Coding of a spatial sampling of a two-dimensional information signal using sub-division

ABSTRACT

Coding schemes for coding a spatially sampled information signal using sub-division and coding schemes for coding a sub-division or a multitree structure are described, wherein representative embodiments relate to picture and/or video coding applications.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/148,417, filed Oct. 1, 2018, which is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/413,590, filed Jan. 24, 2017, which is aContinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/195,067 filed Jun.28, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,591,335, which is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/649,251 filed Oct. 11, 2012, which is aContinuation of International Application No. PCT/EP2011/055534 filedApr. 8, 2011, which claims priority from International Application No.PCT/EP2010/054843 filed Apr. 13, 2010 and European Patent ApplicationNo. 10159819.1 filed Apr. 13, 2010. Each of the foregoing patentapplications and patents is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to coding schemes for coding a spatiallysampled information signal using sub-division and coding schemes forcoding a sub-division or a multitree structure, wherein representativeembodiments relate to picture and/or video coding applications.

In image and video coding, the pictures or particular sets of samplearrays for the pictures are usually decomposed into blocks, which areassociated with particular coding parameters. The pictures usuallyconsist of multiple sample arrays. In addition, a picture may also beassociated with additional auxiliary samples arrays, which may, forexample, specify transparency information or depth maps. The samplearrays of a picture (including auxiliary sample arrays) can be groupedinto one or more so-called plane groups, where each plane group consistsof one or more sample arrays. The plane groups of a picture can be codedindependently or, if the picture is associated with more than one planegroup, with prediction from other plane groups of the same picture. Eachplane group is usually decomposed into blocks. The blocks (or thecorresponding blocks of sample arrays) are predicted by eitherinter-picture prediction or intra-picture prediction. The blocks canhave different sizes and can be either quadratic or rectangular. Thepartitioning of a picture into blocks can be either fixed by the syntax,or it can be (at least partly) signaled inside the bitstream. Oftensyntax elements are transmitted that signal the subdivision for blocksof predefined sizes. Such syntax elements may specify whether and how ablock is subdivided into smaller blocks and associated codingparameters, e.g. for the purpose of prediction. For all samples of ablock (or the corresponding blocks of sample arrays) the decoding of theassociated coding parameters is specified in a certain way. In theexample, all samples in a block are predicted using the same set ofprediction parameters, such as reference indices (identifying areference picture in the set of already coded pictures), motionparameters (specifying a measure for the movement of a blocks between areference picture and the current picture), parameters for specifyingthe interpolation filter, intra prediction modes, etc. The motionparameters can be represented by displacement vectors with a horizontaland vertical component or by higher order motion parameters such asaffine motion parameters consisting of six components. It is alsopossible that more than one set of particular prediction parameters(such as reference indices and motion parameters) are associated with asingle block. In that case, for each set of these particular predictionparameters, a single intermediate prediction signal for the block (orthe corresponding blocks of sample arrays) is generated, and the finalprediction signal is built by a combination including superimposing theintermediate prediction signals. The corresponding weighting parametersand potentially also a constant offset (which is added to the weightedsum) can either be fixed for a picture, or a reference picture, or a setof reference pictures, or they can be included in the set of predictionparameters for the corresponding block. The difference between theoriginal blocks (or the corresponding blocks of sample arrays) and theirprediction signals, also referred to as the residual signal, is usuallytransformed and quantized. Often, a two-dimensional transform is appliedto the residual signal (or the corresponding sample arrays for theresidual block). For transform coding, the blocks (or the correspondingblocks of sample arrays), for which a particular set of predictionparameters has been used, can be further split before applying thetransform. The transform blocks can be equal to or smaller than theblocks that are used for prediction. It is also possible that atransform block includes more than one of the blocks that are used forprediction. Different transform blocks can have different sizes and thetransform blocks can represent quadratic or rectangular blocks. Aftertransform, the resulting transform coefficients are quantized andso-called transform coefficient levels are obtained. The transformcoefficient levels as well as the prediction parameters and, if present,the subdivision information is entropy coded.

In image and video coding standards, the possibilities for sub-dividinga picture (or a plane group) into blocks that are provided by the syntaxare very limited. Usually, it can only be specified whether and(potentially how) a block of a predefined size can be sub-divided intosmaller blocks. As an example, the largest block size in H.264 is 16×16.The 16×16 blocks are also referred to as macroblocks and each picture ispartitioned into macroblocks in a first step. For each 16×16 macroblock,it can be signaled whether it is coded as 16×16 block, or as two 16×8blocks, or as two 8×16 blocks, or as four 8×8 blocks. If a 16×16 blockis sub-divided into four 8×8 block, each of these 8×8 blocks can beeither coded as one 8×8 block, or as two 8×4 blocks, or as two 4×8blocks, or as four 4×4 blocks. The small set of possibilities forspecifying the partitioning into blocks in state-of-the-art image andvideo coding standards has the advantage that the side information ratefor signaling the sub-division information can be kept small, but it hasthe disadvantage that the bit rate necessitated for transmitting theprediction parameters for the blocks can become significant as explainedin the following. The side information rate for signaling the predictioninformation does usually represent a significant amount of the overallbit rate for a block. And the coding efficiency could be increased whenthis side information is reduced, which, for instance, could be achievedby using larger block sizes. Real images or pictures of a video sequenceconsist of arbitrarily shaped objects with specific properties. As anexample, such objects or parts of the objects are characterized by aunique texture or a unique motion. And usually, the same set ofprediction parameters can be applied for such an object or part of anobject. But the object boundaries usually don't coincide with thepossible block boundaries for large prediction blocks (e.g., 16×16macroblocks in H.264). An encoder usually determines the sub-division(among the limited set of possibilities) that results in the minimum ofa particular rate-distortion cost measure. For arbitrarily shapedobjects this can result in a large number of small blocks. And sinceeach of these small blocks is associated with a set of predictionparameters, which need to be transmitted, the side information rate canbecome a significant part of the overall bit rate. But since several ofthe small blocks still represent areas of the same object or part of anobject, the prediction parameters for a number of the obtained blocksare the same or very similar.

That is, the sub-division or tiling of a picture into smaller portionsor tiles or blocks substantially influences the coding efficiency andcoding complexity. As outlined above, a sub-division of a picture into ahigher number of smaller blocks enables a spatial finer setting of thecoding parameters, whereby enabling a better adaptivity of these codingparameters to the picture/video material. On the other hand, setting thecoding parameters at a finer granularity poses a higher burden onto theamount of side information in order to inform the decoder on thesettings. Even further, it should be noted that any freedom for theencoder to (further) sub-divide the picture/video spatially into blockstremendously increases the amount of possible coding parameter settingsand thereby generally renders the search for the coding parametersetting leading to the best rate/distortion compromise even moredifficult.

SUMMARY

In accordance with a first aspect of the present application, a codingscheme for coding an array of information samples representing aspatially sampled information signal, such as, but not restricted to,pictures of a video or still pictures, may achieve a better compromisebetween encoding complexity and achievable rate distortion ratio, and/orto achieve a better rate distortion ratio.

According to an embodiment, a decoder may have: an extractor configuredto extract a maximum region size and multi-tree subdivision informationfrom a data stream; a sub-divider configured to spatially divide anarray of information samples representing a spatially sampledinformation signal into tree root regions of the maximum region size andsubdividing, in accordance with a multi-tree subdivision information, atleast a subset of the tree root regions into smaller simply connectedregions of different sizes by recursively multi-partitioning the subsetof tree root regions; and a reconstructor configured to reconstruct thearray of samples from the data stream using the subdivision into thesmaller simply connected regions.

According to another embodiment, a decoding method may have the stepsof: extracting a maximum region size and multi-tree subdivisioninformation from a data stream; spatially dividing an array ofinformation samples representing a spatially sampled information signalinto tree root regions of the maximum region size and subdividing, inaccordance with a multi-tree subdivision information, at least a subsetof the tree root regions into smaller simply connected regions ofdifferent sizes by recursively multi-partitioning the subset of treeroot regions; and reconstructing the array of samples from the datastream using the subdivision into the smaller simply connected regions.

According to another embodiment, an encoder may have: a sub-dividerconfigured to spatially divide an array of information samplesrepresenting a spatially sampled information signal into tree rootregions of a maximum region size and subdividing, in accordance with amulti-tree subdivision information, at least a subset of the tree rootregions into smaller simply connected regions of different sizes byrecursively multi-partitioning the subset of tree root regions; and adata stream generator configured to encode the array of samples usingthe subdivision into the smaller simply connected regions, into a datastream with inserting the maximum region size and multi-tree subdivisioninformation into the data stream.

According to another embodiment, a method for encoding may have thesteps of: spatially dividing an array of information samplesrepresenting a spatially sampled information signal into tree rootregions of a maximum region size and subdividing, in accordance with amulti-tree subdivision information, at least a subset of the tree rootregions into smaller simply connected regions of different sizes byrecursively multi-partitioning the subset of tree root regions; andencoding the array of samples using the subdivision into the smallersimply connected regions, into a data stream with inserting the maximumregion size and multi-tree subdivision information into the data stream.

An embodiment may have a computer readable digital storage medium havingstored thereon a computer program having a program code for performing,when running on a computer, the decoding method or the method forencoding mentioned above.

Another embodiment may have a data stream into which an array ofinformation samples representing a spatially sampled information signalis encoded, the data stream having a maximum region size and amulti-tree subdivision information according to which at least a subsetof the tree root regions of the maximum region size into which the arrayof information samples representing the spatially sampled informationsignal is divided, are to be sub-divided into smaller simply connectedregions of different sizes by recursively multi-partitioning the subsetof tree root regions.

In accordance with the first aspect, the present application is based onthe finding that spatially dividing an array of information samplesrepresenting a spatially sampled information signal into tree rootregions first with then sub-dividing, in accordance withmulti-tree-sub-division information extracted from a data-stream, atleast a subset of the tree root regions into smaller simply connectedregions of different sizes by recursively multi-partitioning the subsetof the tree root regions enables finding a good compromise between a toofine sub-division and a too coarse sub-division in rate-distortionsense, at reasonable encoding complexity, when the maximum region sizeof the tree root regions into which the array of information samples isspatially divided, is included within the data stream and extracted fromthe data stream at the decoding side.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, adecoder comprises an extractor configured to extract a maximum regionsize and multi-tree-sub-division information from a data stream, asub-divider configured to spatially divide an array of informationsamples representing a spatially sampled information signal into treeroot regions of the maximum region size and sub-dividing, in accordancewith the multi-tree-sub-division information, at least a subset of thetree root regions into smaller simply connected regions of differentsizes by recursively multi-partitioning the subset of tree root regions;and a reconstuctor configured to reconstruct the array of informationsamples from the data stream using the sub-division into the smallersimply connected regions.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the datastream also contains the maximum hierarchy level up to which the subsetof tree root regions are subject to the recursive multi-partitioning. Bythis measure, the signaling of the multi-tree-sub-division informationis made easier and needs less bits for coding.

Furthermore, the reconstructor may be configured to perform one or moreof the following measures at a granularity which depends on themulti-tree sub-division: decision which prediction mode among, at least,intra and inter prediction mode to use; transformation from spectral tospatial domain, performing and/or setting parameters for, aninter-prediction; performing and/or setting the parameters for an intraprediction.

Furthermore, the extractor may be configured to extract syntax elementsassociated with the leaf regions of the partitioned treeblocks in adepth-first traversal order from the data stream. By this measure, theextractor is able to exploit the statistics of syntax elements ofalready coded neighboring leaf regions with a higher likelihood thanusing a breadth-first traversal order.

In accordance with another embodiment, a further sub-divider is used inorder to sub-divide, in accordance with a further multi-treesub-division information, at least a subset of the smaller simplyconnected regions into even smaller simply connected regions. Thefirst-stage sub-division may be used by the reconstructor for performingthe prediction of the area of information samples, while thesecond-stage sub-division may be used by the reconstructor to performthe retransformation from spectral to spatial domain. Defining theresidual sub-division to be subordinate relative to the predictionsub-division renders the coding of the overall sub-division less bitconsuming and on the other hand, the restriction and freedom for theresidual sub-division resulting from the subordination has merely minornegative effects on coding efficiency since mostly, portions of pictureshaving similar motion compensation parameters are larger than portionshaving similar spectral properties.

In accordance with even a further embodiment, a further maximum regionsize is contained in the data stream, the further maximum region sizedefining the size of tree root sub-regions into which the smaller simplyconnected regions are firstly divided before sub-dividing at least asubset of the tree root sub-regions in accordance with the furthermulti-tree sub-division information into even smaller simply connectedregions. This, in turn, enables an independent setting of the maximumregion sizes of the prediction sub-division on the one hand and theresidual sub-division on the other hand and, thus, enables finding abetter rate/distortion compromise.

In accordance with an even further embodiment of the present invention,the data stream comprises a first subset of syntax elements disjoinedfrom a second subset of syntax elements forming the multi-treesub-division information, wherein a merger at the decoding side is ableto combine, depending on the first subset of syntax elements, spatiallyneighboring smaller simply connected regions of the multi-treesub-division to obtain an intermediate sub-division of the array ofsamples. The reconstructor may be configured to reconstruct the array ofsamples using the intermediate sub-division. By this measure, it iseasier for the encoder to adapt the effective sub-division to thespatial distribution of properties of the array of information sampleswith finding an optimum rate/distortion compromise. For example, if themaximum region size is high, the multi-tree sub-division information islikely to get more complex due to the tree root regions getting larger.On the other hand, however, if the maximum region size is small, itbecomes more likely that neighboring tree root regions pertain toinformation content with similar properties so that these tree rootregions could also have been processed together. The merging fills thisgap between the afore-mentioned extremes, thereby enabling a nearlyoptimum sub-division of granularity. From the perspective of theencoder, the merging syntax elements allow for a more relaxed orcomputationally less complex encoding procedure since if the encodererroneously uses a too fine sub-division, this error may be compensatedby the encoder afterwards, by subsequently setting the merging syntaxelements with or without adapting only a small part of the syntaxelements having been set before setting the merging syntax elements.

In accordance with an even further embodiment, the maximum region sizeand the multi-tree-sub-division information is used for the residualsub-division rather than the prediction sub-division.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a codingscheme may achieve a better rate/distortion compromise.

According to an embodiment, a decoder may have: a sub-divider configuredto spatially sub-divide, using a quadtree subdivision, an array ofinformation samples representing a spatially sampled information signalinto blocks of different sizes by recursively quadtree-partitioning; anda resonstructor configured to reconstruct the array of informationsamples of the data stream using the spatial subdivision into the blockswith treating the blocks in a depth-first traversal order.

According to another embodiment, a method for decoding may have thesteps of: spatially sub-dividing, using a quadtree subdivision, an arrayof information samples representing a spatially sampled informationsignal into blocks of different sizes by recursivelyquadtree-partitioning; and reconstructing the array of informationsamples of the data stream using the spatial subdivision into the blockswith treating the blocks in a depth-first traversal order.

According to another embodiment, an encoder may have: a sub-dividerconfigured to spatially sub-divide, using a quadtree subdivision, anarray of information samples representing a spatially sampledinformation signal into blocks of different sizes by recursivelyquadtree-partitioning; and a data stream generator configured to encodethe array of information samples of the data stream using the spatialsubdivision into the blocks into a data stream, with treating the blocksin a depth-first traversal order.

According to another embodiment, a method for encoding may have thesteps of: spatially sub-dividing, using a quadtree subdivision, an arrayof information samples representing a spatially sampled informationsignal into blocks of different sizes by recursivelyquadtree-partitioning; and encoding the array of information samples ofthe data stream using the spatial subdivision into the blocks into adata stream, with treating the blocks in a depth-first traversal order.

Another embodiment may have a computer readable digital storage mediumhaving stored thereon a computer program having a program code forperforming, when running on a computer, the method for decoding or themethod for encoding mentioned before.

Another embodiment may have a data stream having encoded therein anarray of information samples representing a spatially sampledinformation signal, the array of information samples being spatiallysub-divided, using a quadtree subdivision, into blocks of differentsizes by recursively quadtree-partitioning, the array of informationsamples being encoded into the data stream using the spatial subdivisioninto the blocks into a data stream, with treating the blocks in adepth-first traversal order.

The idea underlying this aspect is that a depth-first traversal orderfor treating the simply connected regions of a quadtree sub-division ofan array of information samples representing a spatially sampledinformation signal is advantageous over a breadth-first traversal orderdue to the fact that, when using the depth-first traversal order, eachsimply connected region has a higher probability to have neighboringsimply connected regions which have already been traversed so thatinformation regarding these neighboring simply connected regions may bepositively exploited when reconstructing the respective current simplyconnected region.

When the array of information samples is firstly divided into a regulararrangement of tree root regions of zero-order hierarchy size with thensub-dividing at least a subset of the tree root regions into smallersimply connected regions of different sizes, the reconstructor may use azigzag scan in order to scan the tree root regions with, for each treeroot region to be partitioned, treating the simply connected leafregions in depth-first traversal order before stepping further to thenext tree root region in the zigzag scan order. Moreover, in accordancewith the depth-first traversal order, simply connected leaf regions ofthe same hierarchy level may be traversed in a zigzag scan order also.Thus, the increased likelihood of having neighboring simply connectedleaf regions is maintained.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a codingscheme for coding a signaling of a multi-tree structure prescribing aspatial multi-tree sub-division of a tree root region according to whichthe tree root region is recursively multi-partitioned into smallersimply connected regions may achieve that the amount of data for codingthe signaling is reduced.

An embodiment may have a decoder for decoding a coded signaling of amulti-tree structure prescribing a spatial multi-tree subdivision of atree root block according to which the tree root block is recursivelymulti-partitioned into leaf blocks, the coded signaling having asequence of flags associated with nodes of the multi-tree structure in adepth-first order, and each flag specifying whether an area of the treeroot block corresponding to the node with which the respective flag isassociated, is multi-partitioned, the decoder being configured tosequentially entropy-decode the flags using probability estimationcontexts which are the same for flags associated with nodes of themulti-tree structure lying within the same hierarchy level of themulti-tree structure, but different for nodes of the multi-treestructure lying within different hierarchy levels of the multi-treestructure.

Another embodiment may have a method for decoding a coded signaling of amulti-tree structure prescribing a spatial multi-tree subdivision of atree root block according to which the tree root block is recursivelymulti-partitioned into leaf blocks, the coded signaling having asequence of flags associated with nodes of the multi-tree structure in adepth-first order, and each flag specifying whether an area of the treeroot block corresponding to the node with which the respective flag isassociated, is multi-partitioned, the method having sequentiallyentropy-decoding the flags using probability estimation contexts whichare the same for flags associated with nodes of the multi-tree structurelying within the same hierarchy level of the multi-tree structure, butdifferent for nodes of the multi-tree structure lying within differenthierarchy levels of the multi-tree structure.

Another embodiment may have an encoder for generating a coded signalingof a multi-tree structure prescribing a spatial multi-tree subdivisionof a tree root block according to which the tree root block isrecursively multi-partitioned into leaf blocks, the coded signalinghaving a sequence of flags associated with nodes of the multi-treestructure in a depth-first order, and each flag specifying whether anarea of the tree root block corresponding to the node with which therespective flag is associated, is multi-partitioned, the encoder beingconfigured to sequentially entropy-encode the flags using probabilityestimation contexts which are the same for flags associated with nodesof the multi-tree structure lying within the same hierarchy level of themulti-tree structure, but different for nodes of the multi-treestructure lying within different hierarchy levels of the multi-treestructure.

Another embodiment may have a method for generating a coded signaling ofa multi-tree structure prescribing a spatial multi-tree subdivision of atree root block according to which the tree root block is recursivelymulti-partitioned into leaf blocks, the coded signaling having asequence of flags associated with nodes of the multi-tree structure in adepth-first order, and each flag specifying whether an area of the treeroot block corresponding to the node with which the respective flag isassociated, is multi-partitioned, the method having sequentiallyentropy-encoding the flags using probability estimation contexts whichare the same for flags associated with nodes of the multi-tree structurelying within the same hierarchy level of the multi-tree structure, butdifferent for nodes of the multi-tree structure lying within differenthierarchy levels of the multi-tree structure.

Another embodiment may have a computer readable digital storage mediumhaving stored thereon a computer program having a program code forperforming, when running on a computer, the method for decoding or themethod for generating mentioned before.

Another embodiment may have a data stream having coded therein a codedsignaling of a multi-tree structure prescribing a spatial multi-treesubdivision of a tree root block according to which the tree root blockis recursively multi-partitioned into leaf blocks, the coded signalinghaving a sequence of flags associated with nodes of the multi-treestructure in a depth-first order, and each flag specifying whether anarea of the tree root block corresponding to the node with which therespective flag is associated, is multi-partitioned, wherein the flagsare sequentially entropy-encoded into the data stream using probabilityestimation contexts which are the same for flags associated with nodesof the multi-tree structure lying within the same hierarchy level of themulti-tree structure, but different for nodes of the multi-treestructure lying within different hierarchy levels of the multi-treestructure.

The underlying idea for this aspect is that, although it is favorable tosequentially arrange the flags associated with the nodes of themulti-tree structure in a depth-first traversal order, the sequentialcoding of the flags should use probability estimation contexts which arethe same for flags associated with nodes of the multi-tree structurelying within the same hierarchy level of the multi-tree structure, butdifferent from nodes of the multi-tree structure lying within differenthierarchy levels of the multi-tree structure, thereby allowing for agood compromise between the number of contexts to be provided and theadaptation to the actual symbol statistics of the flags on the otherhand.

In accordance with an embodiment, the probability estimation contextsfor a predetermined flag used also depends on flags preceding thepredetermined flag in accordance with the depth-first traversal orderand corresponding to areas of the tree root region having apredetermined relative location relationship to the area to which thepredetermined flag corresponds. Similar to the idea underlying theproceeding aspect, the use of the depth-first traversal order guaranteesa high probability that flags already having been coded also compriseflags corresponding to areas neighboring the area corresponding to thepredetermined flag so that this knowledge may be used to better adaptthe context to be used for the predetermined flag.

The flags which may be used for setting the context for a predeterminedflag, may be those corresponding to areas lying to the top of and/or tothe left of the area to which the predetermined flag corresponds.Moreover, the flags used for selecting the context may be restricted toflags belonging to the same hierarchy level as the node with which thepredetermined flag is associated.

Accordingly, in accordance with a further aspect, a coded scheme forcoding a signaling of a multi-tree structure may enable a more effectivecoding.

An embodiment may have a decoder for decoding a coded signaling of amulti-tree structure, the coded signaling having an indication of ahighest hierarchy level and a sequence of flags associated with nodes ofthe multi-tree structure unequal to the highest hierarchy level, eachflag specifying whether the associated node is an intermediate node orchild node, the decoder being configured to decode the indication of thehighest hierarchy level from a data stream, and then sequentiallydecoding, in a depth-first or breadth-first traversal order, thesequence of flags from the data stream with skipping nodes of thehighest hierarchy level and automatically appointing same leaf nodes.

According to another embodiment, a method for decoding a coded signalingof a multi-tree structure, the coded signaling having an indication of ahighest hierarchy level and a sequence of flags associated with nodes ofthe multi-tree structure unequal to the highest hierarchy level, eachflag specifying whether the associated node is an intermediate node orchild node, may have the steps of: decoding the indication of thehighest hierarchy level from a data stream; and then sequentiallydecoding, in a depth-first or breadth-first traversal order, thesequence of flags from the data stream with skipping nodes of thehighest hierarchy level and automatically appointing same leaf nodes.

Another embodiment may have an encoder for generating a coded signalingof a multi-tree structure, the coded signaling having an indication of ahighest hierarchy level and a sequence of flags associated with nodes ofthe multi-tree structure unequal to the highest hierarchy level, eachflag specifying whether the associated node is an intermediate node orchild node, the encoder being configured to encode the indication of thehighest hierarchy level from a data stream, and then sequentiallyencode, in a depth-first or breadth-first traversal order, the sequenceof flags from the data stream with skipping nodes of the highesthierarchy level and automatically appointing same leaf nodes.

According to another embodiment, a method for generating a codedsignaling of a multi-tree structure, the coded signaling having anindication of a highest hierarchy level and a sequence of flagsassociated with nodes of the multi-tree structure unequal to the highesthierarchy level, each flag specifying whether the associated node is anintermediate node or child node, may have the steps of: encoding theindication of the highest hierarchy level from a data stream: and thensequentially encoding, in a depth-first or breadth-first traversalorder, the sequence of flags from the data stream with skipping nodes ofthe highest hierarchy level and automatically appointing same leafnodes.

Another embodiment may have a computer readable digital storage mediumhaving stored thereon a computer program having a program code forperforming, when running on a computer, the method for decoding or themethod for generating mentioned before.

According to this aspect, the coded signaling comprises an indication ofa highest hierarchy level and a sequence of flags associated with nodesof the multi-tree structure unequal to the highest hierarchy level, eachflag specifying whether the associated node is an intermediate node orchild node, and a sequentially decoding, in a depth-first orbreadth-first traversal order, of the sequence of flags from the datastream takes place, with skipping nodes of the highest hierarchy leveland automatically appointing same leaf nodes, thereby reducing thecoding rate.

In accordance with a further embodiment, the coded signaling of themulti-tree structure may comprise the indication of the highesthierarchy level. By this measure, it is possible to restrict theexistence of flags to hierarchy levels other than the highest hierarchylevel as a further partitioning of blocks of the highest hierarchy levelis excluded anyway.

In case of the spatial multi-tree-sub-division being part of a secondarysub-division of leaf nodes and un-partitioned tree root regions of aprimary multi-tree-sub-division, the context used for coding the flagsof the secondary sub-division may be selected such that the contexts arethe same for the flags associated with areas of the same size.

In accordance with further embodiments, a favorable merging or groupingof simply connected regions into which the array of information samplesis sub-divided, is coded with a reduced amount of data. To this end, forthe simply connected regions, a predetermined relative locationalrelationship is defined enabling an identifying, for a predeterminedsimply connected region, of simply connected regions within theplurality of simply connected regions which have the predeterminedrelative locational relationship to the predetermined simply connectedregion. Namely, if the number is zero, a merge indicator for thepredetermined simply connected region may be absent within the datastream. Further, if the number of simply connected regions having thepredetermined relative location relationship to the predetermined simplyconnected region is one, the coding parameters of the simply connectedregion may be adopted or may be used for a prediction for the codingparameters for the predetermined simply connected region without theneed for any further syntax element. Otherwise, i.e., if the number ofsimply connected regions having the predetermined relative locationrelationship to the predetermined simply connected regions is greaterthan one, the introduction of a further syntax element may be suppressedeven if the coding parameters associated with these identified simplyconnected regions are identical to each other.

In accordance with an embodiment, if the coding parameters of theneighboring simply connected regions are unequal to each other, areference neighbor identifier may identify a proper subset of the numberof simply connected regions having the predetermined relative locationrelationship to the predetermined simply connected region and thisproper subset is used when adopting the coding parameters or predictingthe coding parameters of the predetermined simply connected region.

In accordance with even further embodiments, a spatial sub-division ofan area of samples representing a spatial sampling of thetwo-dimensional information signal into a plurality of simply connectedregions of different sizes by recursively multi-partitioning isperformed depending on a first subset of syntax elements contained inthe data stream, followed by a combination of spatially neighboringsimply connected regions depending on a second subset of syntax elementswithin the data stream being disjoined from the first subset, to obtainan intermediate sub-division of the array of samples into disjoint setsof simply connected regions, the union of which is the plurality ofsimply connected regions. The intermediate sub-division is used whenreconstructing the array of samples from the data stream. This enablesrendering the optimization with respect to the sub-division lesscritical due to the fact that a too fine sub-division may be compensatedby the merging afterwards. Further, the combination of the sub-divisionand the merging enables achieving intermediate sub-divisions which wouldnot be possible by way of recursive multi-partitioning only so that theconcatenation of the sub-division and the merging by use of disjoinedsets of syntax elements enables a better adaptation of the effective orintermediate sub-division to the actual content of the two-dimensionalinformation signal. Compared to the advantages, the additional overheadresulting from the additional subset of syntax elements for indicatingthe merging details, is negligible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described in the following withrespect to the following Figs., among which

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an encoder according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a decoder according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIGS. 3a-c schematically show an illustrative example for a quadtreesub-division, wherein FIG. 3a shows a first hierarchy level, FIG. 3bshows a second hierarchy level and FIG. 3c shows a third hierarchylevel;

FIG. 4 schematically shows a tree structure for the illustrativequadtree sub-division of FIGS. 3a to 3c according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5a schematically illustrates the quadtree sub-division of FIGS. 3ato 3c and FIG. 5b schematically illustrates the tree structure withindices indexing the individual leaf blocks of the quadtreesub-division;

FIG. 6a schematically shows a binary string or a sequence of flagsrepresenting the tree structure of FIG. 4 and the quadtree sub-divisionof FIGS. 3a to 3c in accordance with an embodiment, and FIG. 6bschematically shows a binary string or a sequence of flags representingthe tree structure of FIG. 4 and the quadtree sub-division of FIGS. 3ato 3c in accordance with another embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart showing the steps performed by a data streamextractor in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows a flow chart illustrating the functionality of a datastream extractor in accordance with a further embodiment;

FIG. 9a shows a schematic diagram of illustrative quadtree sub-divisionswith neighboring candidate blocks for a predetermined block beinghighlighted in accordance with an embodiment, and FIG. 9b shows aschematic diagram of illustrative quadtree sub-divisions withneighboring candidate blocks for a predetermined block being highlightedin accordance with another embodiment;

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of a functionality of a data stream extractorin accordance with a further embodiment;

FIG. 11 schematically shows a composition of a picture out of planes andplane groups and illustrates a coding using inter planeadaptation/prediction in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 12a schematically illustrates a subtree structure and FIG. 12bschematically illustrates a corresponding sub-division in order toillustrate the inheritance scheme in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 12c schematically illustrates a subtree structure in order toillustrate the inheritance scheme with adoption and FIG. 12dschematically illustrates a subtree structure in order to illustrate theinheritance scheme with prediction, in accordance with embodiments;

FIG. 13 shows a flow chart showing the steps performed by an encoderrealizing an inheritance scheme in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 14a shows a primary sub-division and FIG. 14b shows a subordinatesub-division in order to illustrate a possibility to implement aninheritance scheme in connection with inter-prediction in accordancewith an embodiment;

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram illustrating a decoding process inconnection with the inheritance scheme in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 16 shows a schematic diagram illustrating decoding of a codedsignal of a multitree structure;

FIG. 17 shows a block diagram of a decoder according to an embodiment;

FIG. 18 shows a schematic diagram illustrating the content of a datastream in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 19 shows a block diagram of an encoder according to an embodiment;

FIG. 20 shows a block diagram of a decoder according to a furtherembodiment; and

FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of a decoder according to a furtherembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description of the Figs., elements occurring in severalof these Figs. are indicated by common reference numbers and a repeatedexplanation of these elements is avoided. Rather, explanations withrespect to an element presented within one Fig. shall also apply toother Figs. in which the respective element occurs as long as theexplanation presented with these other Figs. indicate deviationstherefrom.

Further, the following description starts with embodiments of an encoderand decoder which are explained with respect to FIGS. 1 to 11. Theembodiments described with respect to these Figs. combine many aspectsof the present application which, however, would also be advantageous ifimplemented individually within a coding scheme and accordingly, withrespect to the subsequent Figs., embodiments are briefly discussed whichexploit just-mentioned aspects individually with each of theseembodiments representing an abstraction of the embodiments describedwith respect to FIGS. 1 and 11 in a different sense.

FIG. 1 shows an encoder according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The encoder 10 of FIG. 1 comprises a predictor 12, a residualprecoder 14, a residual reconstructor 16, a data stream inserter 18 anda block divider 20. The encoder 10 is for coding a temporal spatiallysampled information signal into a data stream 22. The temporal spatiallysampled information signal may be, for example, a video, i.e., asequence of pictures. Each picture represents an array of image samples.Other examples of temporal spatially information signals comprise, forexample, depth images captured by, for example, time-of-light cameras.Further, it should be noted that a spatially sampled information signalmay comprise more than one array per frame or time stamp such as in thecase of a color video which comprises, for example, an array of lumasamples along with two arrays of chroma samples per frame. It may alsobe possible that the temporal sampling rate for the different componentsof the information signal, i.e., luma and chroma may be different. Thesame applies to the spatial resolution. A video may also be accompaniedby further spatially sampled information such as depth or transparencyinformation. The following description, however, will focus on theprocessing of one of these arrays for the sake of a better understandingof the main issues of the present application first with then turning tothe handling of more than one plane.

The encoder 10 of FIG. 1 is configured to create the data stream 22 suchthat the syntax elements of the data stream 22 describe the pictures ina granularity lying between whole pictures and individual image samples.To this end, the divider 20 is configured to sub-divide each picture 24into simply connected regions of different sizes 26. In the followingthese regions will simply be called blocks or sub-regions 26.

As will be outlined in more detail below, the divider 20 uses amulti-tree sub-division in order to sub-divide the picture 24 into theblocks 26 of different sizes. To be even more precise, the specificembodiments outlined below with respect to FIGS. 1 to 11 mostly use aquadtree sub-division. As will also be explained in more detail below,the divider 20 may, internally, comprise a concatenation of asub-divider 28 for sub-dividing the pictures 24 into the just-mentionedblocks 26 followed by a merger 30 which enables combining groups ofthese blocks 26 in order to obtain an effective sub-division orgranularity which lies between the non-sub-division of the pictures 24and the sub-division defined by sub-divider 28.

As illustrated by dashed lines in FIG. 1, the predictor 12, the residualprecoder 14, the residual reconstructor 16 and the data stream inserter18 operate on picture sub-divisions defined by divider 20. For example,as will be outlined in more detail below, predictor 12 uses a predictionsub-division defined by divider 20 in order to determine for theindividual sub-regions of the prediction sub-division as to whether therespective sub-region should be subject to intra picture prediction orinter picture prediction with setting the corresponding predictionparameters for the respective sub-region in accordance with the chosenprediction mode.

The residual pre-coder 14, in turn, may use a residual sub-division ofthe pictures 24 in order to encode the residual of the prediction of thepictures 24 provided by predictor 12. As the residual reconstructor 16reconstructs the residual from the syntax elements output by residualpre-coder 14, residual reconstructor 16 also operates on thejust-mentioned residual sub-division. The data stream inserter 18 mayexploit the divisions just-mentioned, i.e., the prediction and residualsub-divisions, in order to determine insertion orders and neighborshipsamong the syntax elements for the insertion of the syntax elementsoutput by residual pre-coder 14 and predictor 12 into the data stream 22by means of, for example, entropy encoding.

As shown in FIG. 1, encoder 10 comprises an input 32 where the originalinformation signal enters encoder 10. A subtractor 34, the residualpre-coder 14 and the data stream inserter 18 are connected in series inthe order mentioned between input 32 and the output of data streaminserter 18 at which the coded data stream 22 is output. Subtractor 34and residual precoder 14 are part of a prediction loop which is closedby the residual constructor 16, an adder 36 and predictor 12 which areconnected in series in the order mentioned between the output ofresidual precoder 14 and the inverting input of subtractor 34. Theoutput of predictor 12 is also connected to a further input of adder 36.Additionally, predictor 12 comprises an input directly connected toinput 32 and may comprise an even further input also connected to theoutput of adder 36 via an optional in-loop filter 38. Further, predictor12 generates side information during operation and, therefore, an outputof predictor 12 is also coupled to data stream inserter 18. Similarly,divider 20 comprises an output which is connected to another input ofdata stream inserter 18.

Having described the structure of encoder 10, the mode of operation isdescribed in more detail in the following.

As described above, divider 20 decides for each picture 24 how tosub-divide same into sub-regions 26. In accordance with a sub-divisionof the picture 24 to be used for prediction, predictor 12 decides foreach sub-region corresponding to this sub-division, how to predict therespective sub-region. Predictor 12 outputs the prediction of thesub-region to the inverting input of substractor 34 and to the furtherinput of adder 36 and outputs prediction information reflecting the wayhow predictor 12 obtained this prediction from previously encodedportions of the video, to data stream inserter 18.

At the output of subtractor 34, the prediction residual is thus obtainedwherein residual pre-coder 14 processes this prediction residual inaccordance with a residual sub-division also prescribed by divider 20.As described in further detail below with respect to FIGS. 3 to 10, theresidual sub-division of picture 24 used by residual precoder 14 may berelated to the prediction sub-division used by predictor 12 such thateach prediction sub-region is adopted as residual sub-region or furthersub-divided into smaller residual sub-regions. However, totallyindependent prediction and residual sub-divisions would also bepossible.

Residual precoder 14 subjects each residual sub-region to atransformation from spatial to spectral domain by a two-dimensionaltransform followed by, or inherently involving, a quantization of theresulting transform coefficients of the resulting transform blockswhereby distortion results from the quantization noise. The data streaminserter 18 may, for example, losslessly encode syntax elementsdescribing the afore-mentioned transform coefficients into the datastream 22 by use of, for example, entropy encoding. #

The residual reconstructor 16, in turn, reconverts, by use of are-quantization followed by a re-transformation, the transformcoefficients into a residual signal wherein the residual signal iscombined within adder 36 with the prediction used by subtractor 34 forobtaining the prediction residual, thereby obtaining a reconstructedportion or subregion of a current picture at the output of adder 36.Predictor 12 may use the reconstructed picture subregion for intraprediction directly, that is for predicting a certain predictionsub-region by extrapolation from previously reconstructed predictionsub-regions in the neighborhood. However, an intra prediction performedwithin the spectral domain by predicting the spectrum of the currentsubregion from that of a neighboring one, directly would theoreticallyalso be possible.

For inter prediction, predictor 12 may use previously encoded andreconstructed pictures in a version according to which same have beenfiltered by an optional in-loop filter 38. In-loop filter 38 may, forexample, comprise a de-blocking filter and/or an adaptive filter havinga transfer function adapted to advantageously form the quantizationnoise mentioned before.

Predictor 12 chooses the prediction parameters revealing the way ofpredicting a certain prediction sub-region by use of a comparison withthe original samples within picture 24. The prediction parameters may,as outlined in more detail below, comprise for each predictionsub-region an indication of the prediction mode, such as intra pictureprediction and inter picture prediction. In case of intra pictureprediction, the prediction parameters may also comprise an indication ofan angle along which edges within the prediction sub-region to be intrapredicted mainly extend, and in case of inter picture prediction, motionvectors, motion picture indices and, eventually, higher order motiontransformation parameters and, in case of both intra and/or interpicture prediction, optional filter information for filtering thereconstructed image samples based on which the current predictionsub-region is predicted.

As will be outlined in more detail below, the aforementionedsub-divisions defined by a divider 20 substantially influence therate/distortion ratio maximally achievable by residual precoder 14,predictor 12 and data stream inserter 18. In case of a too finesub-division, the prediction parameters 40 output by predictor 12 to beinserted into data stream 22 necessitate a too large coding ratealthough the prediction obtained by predictor 12 might be better and theresidual signal to be coded by residual precoder 14 might be smaller sothat same might be coded by less bits. In case, of a too coarsesub-division, the opposite applies. Further, the just-mentioned thoughtalso applies for the residual sub-division in a similar manner: atransformation of a picture using a finer granularity of the individualtransformation blocks leads to a lower complexity for computing thetransformations and an increased spatial resolution of the resultingtransformation. That is, smaller residual sub-regions enable thespectral distribution of the content within individual residualsub-regions to be more consistent. However, the spectral resolution isreduced and the ratio between significant and insignificant, i.e.quantized to zero, coefficients gets worse. That is, the granularity ofthe transform should be adapted to the picture content locally.Additionally, independent from the positive effect of a findergranularity, a finer granularity regularly increases the amount of sideinformation in order to indicate the subdivision chosen to the decoder.As will be outlined in more detail below, the embodiments describedbelow provide the encoder 10 with the ability to adapt the sub-divisionsvery effectively to the content of the information signal to be encodedand to signal the sub-divisions to be used to the decoding side byinstructing the data stream inserter 18 to insert the sub-divisioninformation into the coded data stream 22. Details are presented below.

However, before defining the sub-division of divider 20 in more detail,a decoder in accordance with an embodiment of the present application isdescribed in more detail with respect to FIG. 2.

The decoder of FIG. 2 is indicated by reference sign 100 and comprisesan extractor 102, a divider 104, a residual reconstructor 106, an adder108, a predictor 110, an optional in-loop filter 112 and an optionalpost-filter 114. The extractor 102 receives the coded data stream at aninput 116 of decoder 100 and extracts from the coded data streamsub-division information 118, prediction parameters 120 and residualdata 122 which the extractor 102 outputs to picture divider 104,predictor 110 and residual reconstructor 106, respectively. Residualreconstructor 106 has an output connected to a first input of adder 108.The other input of adder 108 and the output thereof are connected into aprediction loop into which the optional in-loop filer 112 and predictor110 are connected in series in the order mentioned with a by-pass pathleading from the output of adder 108 to predictor 110 directly similarto the above-mentioned connections between adder 36 and predictor 12 inFIG. 1, namely one for intra picture prediction and the other one forinter picture prediction. Either the output of adder 108 or the outputof in-loop filter 112 may be connected to an output 124 of decoder 100where the reconstructed information signal is output to a reproductiondevice, for example. An optional post-filter 114 may be connected intothe path leading to output 124 in order to improve the visual quality ofvisual impression of the reconstructed signal at output 124.

Generally speaking, the residual reconstructor 106, the adder 108 andpredictor 110 act like elements 16, 36 and 12 in FIG. 1. In other words,same emulate the operation of the afore-mentioned elements of FIG. 1. Tothis end, residual reconstructor 106 and predictor 110 are controlled bythe prediction parameters 120 and the sub-division prescribed by picturedivider 104 in accordance with a sub-division information 118 fromextractor 102, respectively, in order to predict the predictionsub-regions the same way as predictor 12 did or decided to do, and toretransform the transform coefficients received at the same granularityas residual precoder 14 did. The picture divider 104, in turn, rebuildsthe sub-divisions chosen by divider 20 of FIG. 1 in a synchronized wayby relying on the sub-division information 118. The extractor may use,in turn, the subdivision information in order to control the dataextraction such as in terms of context selection, neighborhooddetermination, probability estimation, parsing the syntax of the datastream etc.

Several deviations may be performed on the above embodiments. Some arementioned within the following detailed description with respect to thesub-division performed by sub-divider 28 and the merging performed bymerger 30 and others are described with respect to the subsequent FIGS.12 to 16. In the absence of any obstacles, all these deviations may beindividually or in subsets applied to the afore-mentioned description ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2, respectively. For example, dividers 20 and 104 maynot determine a prediction sub-division and residual sub-division perpicture only. Rather, they may also determine a filter sub-division forthe optional in-loop filter 38 and 112, respectively, Either independentfrom or dependent from the other sub-divisions for prediction orresidual coding, respectively. Moreover, a determination of thesub-division or sub-divisions by these elements may not be performed ona frame by frame basis. Rather, a sub-division or sub-divisionsdetermined for a certain frame may be reused or adopted for a certainnumber of following frames with merely then transferring a newsub-division.

In providing further details regarding the division of the pictures intosub-regions, the following description firstly focuses on thesub-division part which sub-divider 28 and 104 a assume responsibilityfor. Then the merging process which merger 30 and merger 104 b assumeresponsibility for, is described. Lastly, inter planeadaptation/prediction is described.

The way, sub-divider 28 and 104 a divide the pictures is such that apicture is dividable into a number of blocks of possibly different sizesfor the purpose of predictive and residual coding of the image or videodata. As mentioned before, a picture 24 may be available as one or morearrays of image sample values. In case of YUV/YCbCr color space, forexample, the first array may represent the luma channel while the othertwo arrays represent chroma channels. These arrays may have differingdimensions. All arrays may be grouped into one or more plane groups witheach plane group consisting of one or more consecutive planes such thateach plane is contained in one and only one plane group. For each planegroup the following applies. The first array of a particular plane groupmay be called the primary array of this plane group. The possiblyfollowing arrays are subordinate arrays. The block division of theprimary array may be done based on a quadtree approach as describedbelow. The block division of the subordinate arrays may be derived basedon the division of primary array.

In accordance with the embodiments described below, sub-dividers 28 and104 a are configured to divide the primary array into a number of squareblocks of equal size, so-called treeblocks in the following. The edgelength of the treeblocks is typically a power of two such as 16, 32 or64 when quadtrees are used. For sake of completeness, however, it isnoted that the use of other tree types would be possible as well such asbinary trees or trees with any number of leaves. Moreover, the number ofchildren of the tree may be varied depending on the level of the treeand depending on what signal the tree is representing.

Beside this, as mentioned above, the array of samples may also representother information than video sequences such as depth maps orlightfields, respectively. For simplicity, the following descriptionfocuses on quadtrees as a representative example for multi-trees.Quadtrees are trees that have exactly four children at each internalnode. Each of the treeblocks constitutes a primary quadtree togetherwith subordinate quadtrees at each of the leaves of the primaryquadtree. The primary quadtree determines the sub-division of a giventreeblock for prediction while a subordinate quadtree determines thesub-division of a given prediction block for the purpose of residualcoding.

The root node of the primary quadtree corresponds to the full treeblock.For example, FIG. 3a shows a treeblock 150. It should be recalled thateach picture is divided into a regular grid of lines and columns of suchtreeblocks 150 so that same, for example, gaplessly cover the array ofsamples. However, it should be noted that for all block subdivisionsshown hereinafter, the seamless subdivision without overlap is notcritical. Rather, neighboring block may overlap each other as long as noleaf block is a proper subportion of a neighboring leaf block.

Along the quadtree structure for treeblock 150, each node can be furtherdivided into four child nodes, which in the case of the primary quadtreemeans that each treeblock 150 can be split into four sub-blocks withhalf the width and half the height of the treeblock 150. In FIG. 3a ,these sub-blocks are indicated with reference signs 152 a to 152 d. Inthe same manner, each of these sub-blocks can further be divided intofour smaller sub-blocks with half the width and half the height of theoriginal sub-blocks. In FIG. 3d this is shown exemplary for sub-block152 c which is sub-divided into four small sub-blocks 154 a to 154 d.Insofar, FIGS. 3a to 3c show exemplary how a treeblock 150 is firstdivided into its four sub-blocks 152 a to 152 d, then the lower leftsub-block 152 c is further divided into four small sub-blocks 154 a to154 d and finally, as shown in FIG. 3c , the upper right block 154 b ofthese smaller sub-blocks is once more divided into four blocks of oneeighth the width and height of the original treeblock 150, with theseeven smaller blocks being denoted with 156 a to 156 d.

FIG. 4 shows the underlying tree structure for the exemplaryquadtree-based division as shown in FIGS. 3a-3d . The numbers beside thetree nodes are the values of a so-called sub-division flag, which willbe explained in much detail later when discussing the signaling of thequadtree structure. The root node of the quadtree is depicted on top ofthe figure (labeled “Level 0”). The four branches at level 1 of thisroot node correspond to the four sub-blocks as shown in FIG. 3a . As thethird of these sub-blocks is further sub-divided into its foursub-blocks in FIG. 3b , the third node at level 1 in FIG. 4 also hasfour branches. Again, corresponding to the sub-division of the second(top right) child node in FIG. 3c , there are four sub-branchesconnected with the second node at level 2 of the quadtree hierarchy. Thenodes at level 3 are not sub-divided any further.

Each leaf of the primary quadtree corresponds to a variable-sized blockfor which individual prediction parameters can be specified (i.e., intraor inter, prediction mode, motion parameters, etc.). In the following,these blocks are called prediction blocks. In particular, these leafblocks are the blocks shown in FIG. 3c . With briefly referring back tothe description of FIGS. 1 and 2, divider 20 or sub-divider 28determines the quadtree sub-division as just-explained. The sub-divider152 a-d performs the decision which of the treeblocks 150, sub-blocks152 a-d, small sub-blocks 154 a-d and so on, to sub-divide or partitionfurther, with the aim to find an optimum tradeoff between a too fineprediction sub-division and a too coarse prediction sub-division asalready indicate above. The predictor 12, in turn, uses the prescribedprediction sub-division in order to determine the prediction parametersmentioned above at a granularity depending on the predictionsub-division or for each of the prediction sub-regions represented bythe blocks shown in FIG. 3c , for example.

The prediction blocks shown in FIG. 3c can be further divided intosmaller blocks for the purpose of residual coding. For each predictionblock, i.e., for each leaf node of the primary quadtree, thecorresponding sub-division is determined by one or more subordinatequadtree(s) for residual coding. For example, when allowing a maximumresidual block size of 16×16, a given 32×32 prediction block could bedivided into four 16×16 blocks, each of which being determined by asubordinate quadtree for residual coding. Each 16×16 block in thisexample corresponds to the root node of a subordinate quadtree.

Just as described for the case of the sub-division of a given treeblockinto prediction blocks, each prediction block can be divided into anumber of residual blocks by usage of subordinate quadtreedecomposition(s). Each leaf of a subordinate quadtree corresponds to aresidual block for which individual residual coding parameters can bespecified (i.e., transform mode, transform coefficients, etc.) byresidual precoder 14 which residual coding parameters control, in turn,residual reconstructors 16 and 106, respectively.

In other words, sub-divider 28 may be configured to determine for eachpicture or for each group of pictures a prediction sub-division and asubordinate residual sub-division by firstly dividing the picture into aregular arrangement of treeblocks 150, recursively partitioning a subsetof these treeblocks by quadtree sub-division in order to obtain theprediction sub-division into prediction blocks—which may be treeblocksif no partitioning took place at the respective treeblock, or the leafblocks of the quadtree sub-division—with then further sub-dividing asubset of these prediction blocks in a similar way, by, if a predictionblock is greater than the maximum size of the subordinate residualsub-division, firstly dividing the respective prediction block into aregular arrangement of sub-treeblocks with then sub-dividing a subset ofthese sub-treeblocks in accordance with the quadtree sub-divisionprocedure in order to obtain the residual blocks—which may be predictionblocks if no division into sub-treeblocks took place at the respectiveprediction block, sub-treeblocks if no division into even smallerregions took place at the respective sub-treeblock, or the leaf blocksof the residual quadtree sub-division.

As briefly outlined above, the sub-divisions chosen for a primary arraymay be mapped onto subordinate arrays. This is easy when consideringsubordinate arrays of the same dimension as the primary array. However,special measures have to be taken when the dimensions of the subordinatearrays differ from the dimension of the primary array. Generallyspeaking, the mapping of the primary array sub-division onto thesubordinate arrays in case of different dimensions could be done byspatially mapping, i.e., by spatially mapping the block boarders of theprimary array sub-division onto the subordinate arrays. In particular,for each subordinate array, there may be a scaling factor in horizontaland vertical direction that determines the ratio of the dimension of theprimary array to the subordinate array. The division of the subordinatearray into sub-blocks for prediction and residual coding may bedetermined by the primary quadtree and the subordinate quadtree(s) ofeach of the collocated treeblocks of the primary array, respectively,with the resulting treeblocks of the subordinate array being scaled bythe relative scaling factor. In case the scaling factors in horizontaland vertical directions differ (e.g., as in 4:2:2 chroma sub-sampling),the resulting prediction and residual blocks of the subordinate arraywould not be squares anymore. In this case, it is possible to eitherpredetermine or select adaptively (either for the whole sequence, onepicture out of the sequence or for each single prediction or residualblock) whether the non-square residual block shall be split into squareblocks. In the first case, for example, encoder and decoder could agreeonto a sub-division into square blocks each time a mapped block is notsquared. In the second case, the sub-divider 28 could signal theselection via data stream inserter 18 and data stream 22 to sub-divider104 a. For example, in case of 4:2:2 chroma sub-sampling, where thesubordinate arrays have half the width but the same height as theprimary array, the residual blocks would be twice as high as wide. Byvertically splitting this block, one would obtain two square blocksagain.

As mentioned above, the sub-divider 28 or divider 20, respectively,signals the quadtree-based division via data stream 22 to sub-divider104 a. To this end, sub-divider 28 informs data stream inserter 18 aboutthe sub-divisions chosen for pictures 24. The data stream inserter, inturn, transmits the structure of the primary and secondary quadtree,and, therefore, the division of the picture array into variable-sizeblocks for prediction or residual coding within the data stream or bitstream 22, respectively, to the decoding side.

The minimum and maximum admissible block sizes are transmitted as sideinformation and may change from picture to picture. Or the minimum andmaximum admissible block sizes can be fixed in encoder and decoder.These minimum and maximum block size can be different for prediction andresidual blocks. For the signaling of the quadtree structure, thequadtree has to be traversed and for each node it has to be specifiedwhether this particular node is a leaf node of the quadtree (i.e., thecorresponding block is not sub-divided any further) or if it branchesinto its four child nodes (i.e., the corresponding block is divided intofour sub-blocks with half the size).

The signaling within one picture is done treeblock by treeblock in araster scan order such as from left to right and top to down asillustrated in FIG. 5a at 140. This scan order could also be different,like from bottom right to top left or in a checkerboard sense. In anembodiment, each treeblock and therefore each quadtree is traversed indepth-first order for signaling the sub-division information.

In an embodiment, not only the sub-division information, i.e., thestructure of the tree, but also the prediction data etc., i.e. thepayload associated with the leaf nodes of the tree, aretransmitted/processed in depth-first order. This is done becausedepth-first traversal has big advantages over breadth-first order. InFIG. 5b , a quadtree structure is presented with the leaf nodes labeledas a, b, . . . , j. FIG. 5a shows the resulting block division. If theblocks/leaf nodes are traversed in breadth-first order, we obtain thefollowing order: abjchidefg. In depth-first order, however, the order isabc . . . ij. As can be seen from FIG. 5a , in depth-first order, theleft neighbour block and the top neighbour block aretransmitted/processed before the current block. Thus, motion vectorprediction and context modeling can use the parameters specified for theleft and top neighbouring block in order to achieve an improved codingperformance. For breadth-first order, this would not be the case, sinceblock j is transmitted before blocks e, g, and i, for example.

Consequently, the signaling for each treeblock is done recursively alongthe quadtree structure of the primary quadtree such that for each node,a flag is transmitted, specifying whether the corresponding block issplit into four sub-blocks. If this flag has the value “1” (for “true”),then this signaling process is repeated recursively for all four childnodes, i.e., sub-blocks in raster scan order (top left, top right,bottom left, bottom right) until the leaf node of the primary quadtreeis reached. Note that a leaf node is characterized by having asub-division flag with a value of “0”. For the case that a node resideson the lowest hierarchy level of the primary quadtree and thuscorresponds to the smallest admissible prediction block size, nosub-division flag has to be transmitted. For the example in FIG. 3a-c ,one would first transmit “1”, as shown at 190 in FIG. 6a , specifyingthat the treeblock 150 is split into its four sub-blocks 152 a-d. Then,one would recursively encode the sub-division information of all thefour sub-blocks 152 a-d in raster scan order 200. For the first twosub-blocks 152 a, b one would transmit “0”, specifying that they are notsub-divided (see 202 in FIG. 6a ). For the third sub-block 152 c (bottomleft), one would transmit “1”, specifying that this block is sub-divided(see 204 in FIG. 6a ). Now, according to the recursive approach, thefour sub-blocks 154 a-d of this block would be processed. Here, onewould transmit “0” for the first (206) and “1” for the second (topright) sub-block (208). Now, the four blocks of the smallest block size156 a-d in FIG. 3c would be processed. In case, we already reached thesmallest allowed block size in this example, no more data would have tobe transmitted, since a further sub-division is not possible. Otherwise“0000”, specifying that none of these blocks is further divided, wouldbe transmitted as indicated in FIG. 6a at 210. After this, one wouldtransmit “00” for the lower two blocks in FIG. 3b (see 212 in FIG. 6a ),and finally “0” for the bottom right block in FIG. 3a (see 214). So thecomplete binary string representing the quadtree structure would be theone shown in FIG. 6 a.

The different background shadings in this binary string representationof FIG. 6a correspond to different levels in the hierarchy of thequadtree-based sub-division. Shading 216 represents level 0(corresponding to a block size equal to the original treeblock size),shading 218 represents level 1 (corresponding to a block size equal tohalf the original treeblock size), shading 220 represents level 2(corresponding to a block size equal to one quarter of the originaltreeblock size), and shading 222 represents level 3 (corresponding to ablock size equal to one eighth of the original treeblock size). All thesub-division flags of the same hierarchy level (corresponding to thesame block size and the same color in the example binary stringrepresentation) may be entropy coded using one and the same probabilitymodel by inserter 18, for example.

Note, that for the case of a breadth-first traversal, the sub-divisioninformation would be transmitted in a different order, shown in FIG. 6b.

Similar to the sub-division of each treeblock for the purpose ofprediction, the division of each resulting prediction block intoresidual blocks has to be transmitted in the bitstream. Also, there maybe a maximum and minimum block size for residual coding which istransmitted as side information and which may change from picture topicture. Or the maximum and minimum block size for residual coding canbe fixed in encoder and decoder. At each leaf node of the primaryquadtree, as those shown in FIG. 3c , the corresponding prediction blockmay be divided into residual blocks of the maximum admissible size.These blocks are the constituent root nodes of the subordinate quadtreestructure for residual coding. For example, if the maximum residualblock size for the picture is 64×64 and the prediction block is of size32×32, then the whole prediction block would correspond to onesubordinate (residual) quadtree root node of size 32×32. On the otherhand, if the maximum residual block size for the picture is 16×16, thenthe 32×32 prediction block would consist of four residual quadtree rootnodes, each of size 16×16. Within each prediction block, the signalingof the subordinate quadtree structure is done root node by root node inraster scan order (left to right, top to down). Like in the case of theprimary (prediction) quadtree structure, for each node a flag is coded,specifying whether this particular node is split into its four childnodes. Then, if this flag has a value of “1”, this procedure is repeatedrecursively for all the four corresponding child nodes and itscorresponding sub-blocks in raster scan order (top left, top right,bottom left, bottom right) until a leaf node of the subordinate quadtreeis reached. As in the case of the primary quadtree, no signaling isrequired for nodes on the lowest hierarchy level of the subordinatequadtree, since those nodes correspond to blocks of the smallestpossible residual block size, which cannot be divided any further.

For entropy coding, residual block sub-division flags belonging toresidual blocks of the same block size may be encoded using one and thesame probability model.

Thus, in accordance with the example presented above with respect toFIGS. 3a to 6a , sub-divider 28 defined a primary sub-division forprediction purposes and a subordinate sub-division of the blocks ofdifferent sizes of the primary sub-division for residual codingpurposes. The data stream inserter 18 coded the primary sub-division bysignaling for each treeblock in a zigzag scan order, a bit sequencebuilt in accordance with FIG. 6a along with coding the maximum primaryblock size and the maximum hierarchy level of the primary sub-division.For each thus defined prediction block, associated prediction parametershave been included into the data stream. Additionally, a coding ofsimilar information, i.e., maximum size, maximum hierarchy level and bitsequence in accordance with FIG. 6a , took place for each predictionblock the size of which was equal to or smaller than the maximum sizefor the residual sub-division and for each residual tree root block intowhich prediction blocks have been pre-divided the size of which exceededthe maximum size defined for residual blocks. For each thus definedresidual block, residual data is inserted into the data stream.

The extractor 102 extracts the respective bit sequences from the datastream at input 116 and informs divider 104 about the sub-divisioninformation thus obtained. Besides this, data stream inserter 18 andextractor 102 may use the afore-mentioned order among the predictionblocks and residual blocks to transmit further syntax elements such asresidual data output by residual precoder 14 and prediction parametersoutput by predictor 12. Using this order has advantages in that adequatecontexts for encoding the individual syntax elements for a certain blockmay be chosen by exploiting already coded/decoded syntax elements ofneighboring blocks. Moreover, similarly, residual pre-coder 14 andpredictor 12 as well as residual reconstructor 106 and pre-coder 110 mayprocess the individual prediction and residual blocks in the orderoutlined above.

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of steps, which may be performed byextractor 102 in order to extract the sub-division information from thedata stream 22 when encoded in the way as outlined above. In a firststep, extractor 102 divides the picture 24 into tree root blocks 150.This step is indicated as step 300 in FIG. 7. Step 300 may involveextractor 102 extracting the maximum prediction block size from the datastream 22. Additionally or alternatively, step 300 may involve extractor102 extracting the maximum hierarchy level from the data stream 22.

Next, in a step 302, extractor 102 decodes a flag or bit from the datastream. The first time step 302 is performed, the extractor 102 knowsthat the respective flag is the first flag of the bit sequence belongingto the first tree root block 150 in tree root block scan order 140. Asthis flag is a flag of hierarchy level 0, extractor 102 may use acontext modeling associated with that hierarchy level 0 in step 302 inorder to determine a context. Each context may have a respectiveprobability estimation for entropy decoding the flag associatedtherewith. The probability estimation of the contexts maycontext-individually be adapted to the respective context symbolstatistic. For example, in order to determine an appropriate context fordecoding the flag of hierarchy level 0 in step 302, extractor 102 mayselect one context of a set of contexts, which is associated with thathierarchy level 0 depending on the hierarchy level 0 flag of neighboringtreeblocks, or even further, depending on information contained withinthe bit strings defining the quadtree sub-division of neighboringtreeblocks of the currently-processed treeblock, such as the top andleft neighbor treeblock.

In the next step, namely step 304, extractor 102 checks as to whetherthe recently-decoded flag suggests a partitioning. If this is the case,extractor 102 partitions the current block—presently a treeblock—orindicates this partitioning to sub-divider 104 a in step 306 and checks,in step 308, as to whether the current hierarchy level was equal to themaximum hierarchy level minus one. For example, extractor 102 could, forexample, also have the maximum hierarchy level extracted from the datastream in step 300. If the current hierarchy level is unequal to themaximum hierarchy level minus one, extractor 102 increases the currenthierarchy level by 1 in step 310 and steps back to step 302 to decodethe next flag from the data stream. This time, the flags to be decodedin step 302 belongs to another hierarchy level and, therefore, inaccordance with an embodiment, extractor 102 may select one of adifferent set of contexts, the set belonging to the current hierarchylevel. The selection may be based also on sub-division bit sequencesaccording to FIG. 6a of neighboring treeblocks already having beendecoded.

If a flag is decoded, and the check in step 304 reveals that this flagdoes not suggest a partitioning of the current block, the extractor 102proceeds with step 312 to check as to whether the current hierarchylevel is 0. If this is the case, extractor 102 proceeds processing withrespect to the next tree root block in the scan order 140 in step 314 orstops processing extracting the sub-division information if there is notree root block to be processed left.

It should be noted that the description of FIG. 7 focuses on thedecoding of the sub-division indication flags of the predictionsub-division only, so that, in fact, step 314 could involve the decodingof further bins or syntax elements pertaining, for example to thecurrent treeblock. In any case, if a further or next tree root blockexists, extractor 102 proceeds from step 314 to step 302 to decode thenext flag from the sub-division information, namely, the first flag ofthe flag sequence regarding the new tree root block.

If, in step 312 the hierarchy level turns out to be unequal to 0, theoperation proceeds in step 316 with a check as to whether further childnodes pertaining the current node exist. That is, when extractor 102performs the check in step 316, it has already been checked in step 312that the current hierarchy level is a hierarchy level other than 0hierarchy level. This, in turn, means that a parent node exists, whichbelongs to a tree root block 150 or one of the smaller blocks 152 a-d,or even smaller blocks 152 a-d, and so on. The node of the treestructure, which the recently-decoded flag belongs to, has a parentnode, which is common to three further nodes of the current treestructure. The scan order among such child nodes having a common parentnode has been illustrated exemplarily in FIG. 3a for hierarchy level 0with reference sign 200. Thus, in step 316, extractor 102 checks as towhether all of these four child nodes have already been visited withinthe process of FIG. 7. If this is not the case, i.e. if there arefurther child nodes with the current parent node, the process of FIG. 7proceeds with step 318, where the next child node in accordance with azigzag scan order 200 within the current hierarchy level is visited, sothat its corresponding sub-block now represents the current block ofprocess 7 and, thereafter, a flag is decoded in step 302 from the datastream regarding the current block or current node. If, however, thereare no further child nodes for the current parent node in step 316, theprocess of FIG. 7 proceeds to step 320 where the current hierarchy levelis decreased by 1 wherein after the process proceeds with step 312.

By performing the steps shown in FIG. 7, extractor 102 and sub-divider104 a cooperate to retrieve the sub-division chosen at the encoder sidefrom the data stream. The process of FIG. 7 is concentrated on theabove-described case of the prediction sub-division. FIG. 8 shows, incombination with the flow diagram of FIG. 7, how extractor 102 andsub-divider 104 a cooperate to retrieve the residual sub-division fromthe data stream.

In particular, FIG. 8 shows the steps performed by extractor 102 andsub-divider 104 a, respectively, for each of the prediction blocksresulting from the prediction sub-division. These prediction blocks aretraversed, as mentioned above, in accordance with a zigzag scan order140 among the treeblocks 150 of the prediction sub-division and using adepth-first traversal order within each treeblock 150 currently visitedfor traversing the leaf blocks as shown, for example, in FIG. 3c .According to the depth-first traversal order, the leaf blocks ofpartitioned primary treeblocks are visited in the depth-first traversalorder with visiting sub-blocks of a certain hierarchy level having acommon current node in the zigzag scan order 200 and with primarilyscanning the sub-division of each of these sub-blocks first beforeproceeding to the next sub-block in this zigzag scan order 200.

For the example in FIG. 3c , the resulting scan order among the leafnodes of treeblock 150 is shown with reference sign 350.

For a currently-visited prediction block, the process of FIG. 8 startsat step 400. In step 400, an internal parameter denoting the currentsize of the current block is set equal to the size of hierarchy level 0of the residual sub-division, i.e. the maximum block size of theresidual sub-division. It should be recalled that the maximum residualblock size may be lower than the smallest block size of the predictionsub-division or may be equal to or greater than the latter. In otherwords, according to an embodiment, the encoder is free to choose any ofthe just-mentioned possibilities.

In the next step, namely step 402, a check is performed as to whetherthe prediction block size of the currently-visited block is greater thanthe internal parameter denoting the current size. If this is the case,the currently-visited prediction block, which may be a leaf block of theprediction sub-division or a treeblock of the prediction sub-division,which has not been partitioned any further, is greater than the maximumresidual block size and in this case, the process of FIG. 8 proceedswith step 300 of FIG. 7. That is, the currently-visited prediction blockis divided into residual treeroot blocks and the first flag of the flagsequence of the first residual treeblock within this currently-visitedprediction block is decoded in step 302, and so on.

If, however, the currently-visited prediction block has a size equal toor smaller than the internal parameter indicting the current size, theprocess of FIG. 8 proceeds to step 404 where the prediction block sizeis checked to determine as to whether same is equal to the internalparameter indicating the current size. If this is the case, the divisionstep 300 may be skipped and the process proceeds directly with step 302of FIG. 7.

If, however, the prediction block size of the currently-visitedprediction block is smaller than the internal parameter indicating thecurrent size, the process of FIG. 8 proceeds with step 406 where thehierarchy level is increased by 1 and the current size is set to thesize of the new hierarchy level such as divided by 2 (in both axisdirections in case of quadtree subdivision). Thereafter, the check ofstep 404 is performed again. The effect of the loop formed by steps 404and 406 is that the hierarchy level corresponds to the size of thecorresponding blocks to be partitioned, independent from the respectiveprediction block having been smaller than or equal to/greater than themaximum residual block size. Thus, when decoding the flags in step 302,the context modeling performed depends on the hierarchy level and thesize of the block to which the flag refers to, concurrently. The use ofdifferent contexts for flags of different hierarchy levels or blocksizes, respectively, is advantageous in that the probability estimationmay well fit the actual probability distribution among the flag valueoccurrences with, on the other hand, having a relative moderate numberof contexts to be managed, thereby reducing the context managingoverhead as well as increasing the context adaptation to the actualsymbol statistics.

As already noted above, there may be more than one array of samples andthese arrays of samples may be grouped into one or more plane groups.The input signal to be encoded, entering input 32, for example, may beone picture of a video sequence or a still image. The picture may, thus,be given in the form of one or more sample arrays. In the context of thecoding of a picture of a video sequence or a still image, the samplearrays might refer to the three color planes, such as red, green andblue or to luma and chroma planes, such in color representations of YUVor YCbCr. Additionally, sample arrays representing alpha, i.e.transparency, and/or depth information for 3-D video material might bepresent as well. A number of these sample arrays may be grouped togetheras a so-called plane group. For example, luma (Y) might be one planegroup with only one sample array and chroma, such as CbCr, might beanother plane group with two sample arrays or, in another example, YUVmight be one plane group with three matrices and a depth information for3-D video material might be a different plane group with only one samplearray. For every plane group, one primary quadtree structure may becoded within the data stream 22 for representing the division intoprediction blocks and for each prediction block, a secondary quadtreestructure representing the division into residual blocks. Thus, inaccordance with a first example just mentioned where the luma componentis one plane group, whereas the chroma component forms the other planegroup, there would be one quadtree structure for the prediction blocksof the luma plane, one quadtree structure for the residual blocks of theluma plane, one quadtree structure for the prediction block of thechroma plane and one quadtree structure for the residual blocks of thechroma plane. In the second example mentioned before, however, therewould be one quadtree structure for the prediction blocks of luma andchroma together (YUV), one quadtree structure for the residual blocks ofluma and chroma together (YUV), one quadtree structure for theprediction blocks of the depth information for 3-D video material andone quadtree structure for the residual blocks of the depth informationfor 3-D video material.

Further, in the foregoing description, the input signal was divided intoprediction blocks using a primary quadtree structure and it wasdescribed how these prediction blocks were further sub-divided intoresidual blocks using a subordinate quadtree structure. In accordancewith an alternative embodiment, the sub-division might not end at thesubordinate quadtree stage. That is, the blocks obtained from a divisionusing the subordinate quadtree structure might be further sub-dividedusing a tertiary quadtree structure. This division, in turn, might beused for the purpose of using further coding tools that might facilitateencoding the residual signal.

The foregoing description concentrated on the sub-division performed bysub-divider 28 and sub-divider 104 a, respectively. As mentioned above,the sub-division defined by sub-divider 28 and 104 a, respectively, maycontrol the processing granularity of the afore-mentioned modules ofencoder 10 and decoder 100. However, in accordance with the embodimentsdescribed in the following, the sub-dividers 228 and 104 a,respectively, are followed by a merger 30 and merger 104 b,respectively. It should be noted, however, that the mergers 30 and 104 bare optional and may be left away.

In effect, however, and as will be outlined in more detail below, themerger provides the encoder with the opportunity of combining some ofthe prediction blocks or residual blocks to groups or clusters, so thatthe other, or at least some of the other modules may treat these groupsof blocks together. For example, the predictor 12 may sacrifice thesmall deviations between the prediction parameters of some predictionblocks as determined by optimization using the subdivision of subdivider28 and use prediction parameters common to all these prediction blocksinstead if the signaling of the grouping of the prediction blocks alongwith a common parameter transmission for all the blocks belonging tothis group is more promising in rate/distortion ratio sense thanindividually signaling the prediction parameters for all theseprediction blocks. The processing for retrieving the prediction inpredictors 12 and 110, itself, based on these common predictionparameters, may, however, still take place prediction-block wise.However, it is also possible that predictors 12 and 110 even perform theprediction process once for the whole group of prediction blocks.

As will be outlined in more detail below, it is also possible that thegrouping of prediction blocks is not only for using the same or commonprediction parameters for a group of prediction blocks, but,alternatively, or additionally, enables the encoder 10 to send oneprediction parameter for this group along with prediction residuals forprediction blocks belonging to this group, so that the signalingoverhead for signaling the prediction parameters for this group may bereduced. In the latter case, the merging process may merely influencethe data stream inserter 18 rather than the decisions made by residualpre-coder 14 and predictor 12. However, more details are presentedbelow. For completeness, however, it should be noted that thejust-mentioned aspect also applies to the other sub-divisions, such asthe residual sub-division or the filter sub-division mentioned above.

Firstly, the merging of sets of samples, such as the aforementionedprediction and residual blocks, is motivated in a more general sense,i.e. not restricted to the above-mentioned multi-tree sub-division.Subsequently, however, the description focuses on the merging of blocksresulting from multi-tree sub-division for which embodiments have justbeen described above.

Generally speaking, merging the syntax elements associated withparticular sets of samples for the purpose of transmitting associatedcoding parameters enables reducing the side information rate in imageand video coding applications. For example, the sample arrays of thesignal to be encoded are usually partitioned into particular sets ofsamples or sample sets, which may represent rectangular or quadraticblocks, or any other collection of samples, including arbitrarily-shapedregions, triangles or other shapes. In the afore-described embodiments,the simply-connected regions were the prediction blocks and the residualblocks resulting from the multi-tree sub-division. The sub-division ofsample arrays may be fixed by the syntax or, as described above, thesub-division may be, at least partially, signaled inside the bit stream.To keep the side information rate for signaling the sub-divisioninformation small, the syntax usually allows only a limited number ofchoices resulting in simple partitioning, such as the sub-division ofblocks to smaller blocks. The sample sets are associated with particularcoding parameters, which may specify prediction information or residualcoding modes, etc. Details regarding this issue have been describedabove. For each sample set, individual coding parameters, such as forspecifying the prediction and/or residual coding may be transmitted. Inorder to achieve an improved coding efficiency, the aspect of mergingdescribed hereinafter, namely the merging of two or more sample setsinto so-called groups of sample sets, enables some advantages, which aredescribed further below. For example, sample sets may be merged suchthat all sample sets of such a group share the same coding parameters,which can be transmitted together with one of the sample sets in thegroup. By doing so, the coding parameters do not have to be transmittedfor each sample set of the group of sample sets individually, but,instead, the coding parameters are transmitted only once for the wholegroup of sample sets. As a result, the side information rate fortransmitting the coding parameters may be reduced and the overall codingefficiency may be improved. As an alternative approach, an additionalrefinement for one or more of the coding parameters can be transmittedfor one or more of the sample sets of a group of sample sets. Therefinement can either be applied to all sample sets of a group or onlyto the sample set for which it is transmitted.

The merging aspect further described below also provides the encoderwith a greater freedom in creating the bit stream 22, since the mergingapproach significantly increases the number of possibilities forselecting a partitioning for the sample arrays of a picture. Since theencoder can choose between more options, such as, for minimizing aparticular rate/distortion measure, the coding efficiency can beimproved. There are several possibilities of operating an encoder. In asimple approach, the encoder could firstly determine the bestsub-division of the sample arrays. Briefly referring to FIG. 1,sub-divider 28 could determine the optimal sub-division in a firststage. Afterwards, it could be checked, for each sample set, whether amerging with another sample set or another group of sample sets, reducesa particular rate/distortion cost measure. At this, the predictionparameters associated with a merged group of sample sets can bere-estimated, such as by performing a new motion search or theprediction parameters that have already been determined for the commonsample set and the candidate sample set or group of sample sets formerging could be evaluated for the considered group of sample sets. In amore extensive approach, a particular rate/distortion cost measure couldbe evaluated for additional candidate groups of sample sets.

It should be noted that the merging approach described hereinafter doesnot change the processing order of the sample sets. That is, the mergingconcept can be implemented in a way so that the delay is not increased,i.e. each sample set remains decodable at the same time instant aswithout using the merging approach.

If, for example, the bit rate that is saved by reducing the number ofcoded prediction parameters is larger than the bit rate that is to beadditionally spent for coding merging information for indicating themerging to the decoding side, the merging approach further to bedescribed below results in an increased coding efficiency. It shouldfurther be mentioned that the described syntax extension for the mergingprovides the encoder with the additional freedom in selecting thepartitioning of a picture or plane group into blocks. In other words,the encoder is not restricted to do the sub-division first and then tocheck whether some of the resulting blocks have the same set or asimilar set of prediction parameters. As one simple alternative, theencoder could first determine the sub-division in accordance with arate-distortion cost measure and then the encoder could check, for eachblock, whether a merging with one of its neighbor blocks or theassociated already-determined group of blocks reduces a rate-distortioncost measure. At this, the prediction parameters associated with the newgroup of blocks can be re-estimated, such as by performing a new motionsearch or the prediction parameters that have already been determinedfor the current block and the neighboring block or groups of blockscould be evaluated for the new group of blocks. The merging informationcan be signaled on a block basis. Effectively, the merging could also beinterpreted as inference of the prediction parameters for a currentblock, wherein the inferred prediction parameters are set equal to theprediction parameters of one of the neighboring blocks. Alternatively,residuals may be transmitted for blocks within a group of blocks.

Thus, the basic idea underlying the merging concept further describedbelow is to reduce the bit rate that is necessitated for transmittingthe prediction parameters or other coding parameters by mergingneighboring blocks into a group of blocks, where each group of blocks isassociated with a unique set of coding parameters, such as predictionparameters or residual coding parameters. The merging information issignaled inside the bit stream in addition to the sub-divisioninformation, if present. The advantage of the merging concept is anincreased coding efficiency resulting from a decreased side informationrate for the coding parameters. It should be noted that the mergingprocesses described here could also extend to other dimensions than thespatial dimensions. For example, a group of sets of samples or blocks,respectively, lying within several different video pictures, could bemerged into one group of blocks. Merging could also be applied to 4-Dcompression and light-field coding.

Thus, briefly returning to the previous description of FIGS. 1 to 8, itis noted that the merging process subsequent to the sub-division isadvantageous independent from the specific way sub-dividers 28 and 104a, respectively, sub-divide the pictures. To be more precise, the lattercould also sub-divide the pictures in a way similar to, for example,H.264, i.e. by sub-dividing each picture into a regular arrangement ofrectangular or quadratic macro blocks of a predetermined size, such as16×16 luma samples or a size signaled within the data stream, each macroblock having certain coding parameters associated therewith comprising,inter alia, partitioning parameters defining, for each macroblock, apartitioning into a regular sub-grid of 1, 2, 4 or some other number ofpartitions serving as a granularity for prediction and the correspondingprediction parameters in the data stream as well as for defining thepartitioning for the residual and the corresponding residualtransformation granularity.

In any case, merging provides the above-mentioned briefly discussedadvantages, such as reducing the side information rate bit in image andvideo coding applications. Particular sets of samples, which mayrepresent the rectangular or quadratic blocks or arbitrarily-shapedregions or any other collection of samples, such as any simply-connectedregion or samples are usually connected with a particular set of codingparameters and for each of the sample sets, the coding parameters areincluded in the bit stream, the coding parameters representing, forexample, prediction parameters, which specify how the corresponding setof samples is predicted using already-coded samples. The partitioning ofthe sample arrays of a picture into sample sets may be fixed by thesyntax or may be signaled by the corresponding sub-division informationinside the bit stream. The coding parameters for the sample set may betransmitted in a predefined order, which is given by the syntax.According to the merging functionality, merger 30 is able to signal, fora common set of samples or a current block, such as a prediction blockor a residual block that it is merged with one or more other samplesets, into a group of sample sets. The coding parameters for a group ofsample sets, therefore, needs to be transmitted only once. In aparticular embodiment, the coding parameters of a current sample set arenot transmitted if the current sample set is merged with a sample set oran already-existing group of sample sets for which the coding parametershave already been transmitted. Instead, the coding parameters for thecurrent set of samples are set equal to the coding parameters of thesample set or group of sample sets with which the current set of samplesis merged. As an alternative approach, an additional refinement for oneor more of the coding parameters can be transmitted for a current sampleset. The refinement can either be applied to all sample sets of a groupor only to the sample set for which it is transmitted.

In accordance with an embodiment, for each set of samples such as aprediction block as mentioned above, a residual block as mentionedabove, or a leaf block of a multitree subdivision as mentioned above,the set of all previously coded/decoded sample sets is called the “setof causal sample sets”. See, for example, FIG. 3c . All the blocks shownin this Fig. are the result of a certain sub-division, such as aprediction sub-division or a residual sub-division or of any multitreesubdivision, or the like, and the coding/decoding order defined amongthese blocks is defined by arrow 350. Considering a certain block amongthese blocks as being the current sample set or current simply-connectedregion, its set of causal sample sets is made of all the blockspreceding the current block along order 350. However, it is, again,recalled that another sub-division not using multi-tree sub-divisionwould be possible as well as far as the following discussion of themerging principles are concerned.

The sets of samples that can be used for the merging with a current setof samples is called the “set of candidate sample sets” in the followingand is a subset of the “set of causal sample sets”. The way how thesubset is formed can either be known to the decoder or it can bespecified inside the data stream or bit stream from the encoder to thedecoder. If a particular current set of samples is coded/decoded and itsset of candidate sample sets is not empty, it is signaled within thedata stream at the encoder or derived from the data stream at thedecoder whether the common set of samples is merged with one sample setout of this set of candidate sample sets and, if so, with which of them.Otherwise, the merging cannot be used for this block, since the set ofcandidate sample sets is empty anyway.

There are different ways how to determine the subset of the set ofcausal sample sets, which shall represent the set of candidate samplesets. For example, the determination of candidate sample sets may bebased on a sample inside the current set of samples, which is uniquelygeometrically-defined, such as the upper-left image sample of arectangular or quadratic block. Starting from this uniquelygeometrically-defined sample, a particular non-zero number of samples isdetermined, which represent direct spatial neighbors of this uniquelygeometrically-defined sample. For example, this particular, non-zeronumber of samples comprises the top neighbor and the left neighbor ofthe uniquely geometrically-defined sample of the current set of samples,so that the non-zero number of neighboring samples may be, at themaximum, two, one if one of the top or left neighbors is not availableor lies outside the picture, or zero in case of both neighbors missing.

The set of candidate sample sets could then be determined to encompassthose sample sets that contain at least one of the non-zero number ofthe just-mentioned neighboring samples. See, for example, FIG. 9a . Thecurrent sample set currently under consideration as merging object,shall be block X and its geometrically uniquely-defined sample, shallexemplarily be the top-left sample indicated at 400. The top and leftneighbor samples of sample 400 are indicated at 402 and 404. The set ofcausal sample sets or set of causal blocks is highlighted in a shadedmanner. Among these blocks, blocks A and B comprise one of theneighboring samples 402 and 404 and, therefore, these blocks form theset of candidate blocks or the set of candidate sample sets.

In accordance with another embodiment, the set of candidate sample setsdetermined for the sake of merging may additionally or exclusivelyinclude sets of samples that contain a particular non-zero number ofsamples, which may be one or two that have the same spatial location,but are contained in a different picture, namely, for example, apreviously coded/decoded picture. For example, in addition to blocks Aand B in FIG. 9a , a block of a previously coded picture could be used,which comprises the sample at the same position as sample 400. By theway, it is noted that merely the top neighboring sample 404 or merelythe left neighboring sample 402 could be used to define theafore-mentioned non-zero number of neighboring samples. Generally, theset of candidate sample sets may be derived from previously-processeddata within the current picture or in other pictures. The derivation mayinclude spatial directional information, such as transform coefficientsassociated with a particular direction and image gradients of thecurrent picture or it may include temporal directional information, suchas neighboring motion representations. From such data available at thereceiver/decoder and other data and side information within the datastream, if present, the set of candidate sample sets may be derived.

It should be noted that the derivation of the candidate sample sets isperformed in parallel by both merger 30 at the encoder side and merger104 b at the decoder side. As just mentioned, both may determine the setof candidate sample sets independent from each other based on apredefined way known to both or the encoder may signal hints within thebit stream, which bring merger 104 b into a position to perform thederivation of these candidate sample sets in a way equal to the waymerger 30 at the encoder side determined the set of candidate samplesets.

As will be described in more detail below, merger 30 and data streaminserter 18 cooperate in order to transmit one or more syntax elementsfor each set of samples, which specify whether the set of samples ismerged with another sample set, which, in turn, may be part of analready-merged group of sample sets and which of the set of candidatesample sets is employed for merging. The extractor 102, in turn,extracts these syntax elements and informs merger 104 b accordingly. Inparticular, in accordance with the specific embodiment described lateron, one or two syntax elements are transmitted for specifying themerging information for a specific set of samples. The first syntaxelement specifies whether the current set of samples is merged withanother sample set. The second syntax element, which is only transmittedif the first syntax element specifies that the current set of samples ismerged with another set of samples, specifies which of the sets ofcandidate sample sets is employed for merging. The transmission of thefirst syntax element may be suppressed if a derived set of candidatesample sets is empty. In other words, the first syntax element may onlybe transmitted if a derived set of candidate sample sets is not empty.The second syntax element may only be transmitted if a derived set ofcandidate sample sets contains more than one sample set, since if onlyone sample set is contained in the set of candidate sample sets, afurther selection is not possible anyway. Even further, the transmissionof the second syntax element may be suppressed if the set of candidatesample sets comprises more than one sample set, but if all of the samplesets of the set of candidate sample sets are associated with the samecoding parameter. In other words, the second syntax element may only betransmitted if at least two sample sets of a derived set of candidatesample sets are associated with different coding parameters.

Within the bit stream, the merging information for a set of samples maybe coded before the prediction parameters or other particular codingparameters that are associated with that sample set. The prediction orcoding parameters may only be transmitted if the merging informationsignals that the current set of samples is not to be merged with anyother set of samples.

The merging information for a certain set of samples, i.e. a block, forexample, may be coded after a proper subset of the prediction parametersor, in a more general sense, coding parameters that are associated withthe respective sample set, has been transmitted. The subset ofprediction/coding parameters may consist of one or more referencepicture indices or one or more components of a motion parameter vectoror a reference index and one or more components of a motion parametervector, etc. The already-transmitted subset of prediction or codingparameters can be used for deriving a set of candidate sample sets outof a greater provisional set of candidate sample sets, which may havebeen derived as just described above. As an example, a differencemeasure or distance according to a predetermined distance measure,between the already-coded prediction and coding parameters of thecurrent set of samples and the corresponding prediction or codingparameters of the preliminary set of candidate sample sets can becalculated. Then, only those sample sets for which the calculateddifference measure, or distance, is smaller than or equal to apredefined or derived threshold, are included in the final, i.e. reducedset of candidate sample sets. See, for example, FIG. 9a . The currentset of samples shall be block X. A subset of the coding parameterspertaining this block shall have already been inserted into the datastream 22. Imagine, for example, block X was a prediction block, inwhich case the proper subset of the coding parameters could be a subsetof the prediction parameters for this block X, such as a subset out of aset comprising a picture reference index and motion-mapping information,such as a motion vector. If block X was a residual block, the subset ofcoding parameters is a subset of residual information, such as transformcoefficients or a map indicating the positions of the significanttransform coefficients within block X. Based on this information, bothdata stream inserter 18 and extractor 102 are able to use thisinformation in order to determine a subset out of blocks A and B, whichform, in this specific embodiment, the previously-mentioned preliminaryset of candidate sample sets. In particular, since blocks A and B belongto the set of causal sample sets, the coding parameters thereof areavailable to both encoder and decoder at the time the coding parametersof block X are currently coded/decoded. Therefore, the afore-mentionedcomparison using the difference measure may be used to exclude anynumber of blocks of the preliminary set of candidate sample sets A andB. The resulting-reduced set of candidate sample sets may then be usedas described above, namely in order to determine as to whether a mergeindicator indicating a merging is to be transmitted within or is to beextracted from the data stream depending on the number of sample setswithin the reduced set of candidate sample sets and as to whether asecond syntax element has to be transmitted within, or has to beextracted from the data stream with a second syntax element indicatingwhich of the sample sets within the reduced set of candidate sample setsshall be the partner block for merging.

The afore-mentioned threshold against which the afore-mentioneddistances are compared may be fixed and known to both encoder anddecoder or may be derived based on the calculated distances such as themedian of the difference values, or some other central tendency or thelike. In this case, the reduced set of candidate sample sets wouldunavoidably be a proper subset of the preliminary set of candidatesample sets. Alternatively, only those sets of samples are selected outof the preliminary set of candidate sample sets for which the distanceaccording to the distance measure is minimized. Alternatively, exactlyone set of samples is selected out of the preliminary set of candidatesample sets using the afore-mentioned distance measure. In the lattercase, the merging information would only need to specify whether thecurrent set of samples is to be merged with a single candidate set ofsamples or not.

Thus, the set of candidate blocks could be formed or derived asdescribed in the following with respect to FIG. 9a . Starting from thetop-left sample position 400 of the current block X in FIG. 9a , itsleft neighboring sample 402 position and its top neighboring sample 404position is derived—at its encoder and decoder sides. The set ofcandidate blocks can, thus, have only up to two elements, namely thoseblocks out of the shaded set of causal blocks in FIG. 9a that containone of the two sample positions, which in the case of FIG. 9a , areblocks B and A. Thus, the set of candidate blocks can only have the twodirectly neighboring blocks of the top-left sample position of thecurrent block as its elements. According to another embodiment, the setof candidate blocks could be given by all blocks that have been codedbefore the current block and contain one or more samples that representdirect spatial neighbors of any sample of the current block. The directspatial neighborhood may be restricted to direct left neighbors and/ordirect top neighbors and/or direct right neighbors and/or direct bottomneighbors of any sample of the current block. See, for example, FIG. 9bshowing another block sub-division. In this case, the candidate blockscomprise four blocks, namely blocks A, B, C and D.

Alternatively, the set of candidate blocks, additionally, orexclusively, may include blocks that contain one or more samples thatare located at the same position as any of the samples of the currentblock, but are contained in a different, i.e. already coded/decodedpicture.

Even alternatively, the candidate set of blocks represents a subset ofthe above-described sets of blocks, which were determined by theneighborhood in spatial or time direction. The subset of candidateblocks may be fixed, signaled or derived. The derivation of the subsetof candidate blocks may consider decisions made for other blocks in thepicture or in other pictures. As an example, blocks that are associatedwith the same or very similar coding parameters than other candidateblocks might not be included in the candidate set of blocks.

The following description of an embodiment applies for the case whereonly two blocks that contain the left and top neighbor sample of thetop-left sample of the current block are considered as potentialcandidate at the maximum.

If the set of candidate blocks is not empty, one flag called merge_flagis signaled, specifying whether the current block is merged with any ofthe candidate blocks. If the merge_flag is equal to 0 (for “false”),this block is not merged with one of its candidate blocks and all codingparameters are transmitted ordinarily. If the merge_flag is equal to 1(for “true”), the following applies. If the set of candidate blockscontains one and only one block, this candidate block is used formerging. Otherwise, the set of candidate blocks contains exactly twoblocks. If the prediction parameters of these two blocks are identical,these prediction parameters are used for the current block. Otherwise(the two blocks have different prediction parameters), a flag calledmerge_left_flag is signaled. If merge_left_flag is equal to 1 (for“true”), the block containing the left neighboring sample position ofthe top-left sample position of the current block is selected out of theset of candidate blocks. If merge_left_flag is equal to 0 (for “false”),the other (i.e., top neighboring) block out of the set of candidateblocks is selected. The prediction parameters of the selected block areused for the current block.

In summarizing some of the above-described embodiments with respect tomerging, reference is made to FIG. 10 showing steps performed byextractor 102 to extract the merging information from the data stream 22entering input 116.

The process starts at 450 with identifying the candidate blocks orsample sets for a current sample set or block. It should be recalledthat the coding parameters for the blocks are transmitted within thedata stream 22 in a certain one-dimensional order and accordingly, FIG.10 refers to the process of retrieving the merge information for acurrently visited sample set or block.

As mentioned before, the identification and step 450 may comprise theidentification among previously decoded blocks, i.e. the causal set ofblocks, based on neighborhood aspects. For example, those neighboringblocks may be appointed candidate, which include certain neighboringsamples neighboring one or more geometrically predetermined samples ofthe current block X in space or time. Further, the step of identifyingmay comprise two stages, namely a first stage involving anidentification as just-mentioned, namely based on the neighborhood,leading to a preliminary set of candidate blocks, and a second stageaccording to which merely those blocks are appointed candidates thealready transmitted coding parameters of which fulfill a certainrelationship to the a proper subset of the coding parameters of thecurrent block X, which has already been decoded from the data streambefore step 450.

Next, the process steps to step 452 where it is determined as to whetherthe number of candidate blocks is greater than zero. If this is thecase, a merge_flag is extracted from the data stream in step 454. Thestep of extracting 454 may involve entropy decoding. The context forentropy decoding the merge_flag in step 454 may be determined based onsyntax elements belonging to, for example, the set of candidate blocksor the preliminary set of candidate blocks, wherein the dependency onthe syntax elements may be restricted to the information whether theblocks belonging to the set of interest has been subject to merging ornot. The probability estimation of the selected context may be adapted.

If, however, the number of candidate blocks is determined to be zeroinstead 452, the process FIG. 10 proceeds with step 456 where the codingparameters of the current block are extracted from the bitstream or, incase of the above-mentioned two-stage identification alternative, theremaining coding parameters thereof wherein after the extractor 102proceeds with processing the next block in the block scan order such asorder 350 shown in FIG. 3 c.

Returning to step 454, the process proceeds after extraction in step454, with step 458 with a check as to whether the extracted merge_flagsuggests the occurrence or absence of a merging of the current block. Ifno merging shall take place, the process proceeds with afore-mentionedstep 456. Otherwise, the process proceeds with step 460, including acheck as to whether the number of candidate blocks is equal to one. Ifthis is the case, the transmission of an indication of a certaincandidate block among the candidate blocks was not necessary andtherefore, the process of FIG. 10 proceeds with step 462 according towhich the merging partner of the current block is set to be the onlycandidate block whereinafter in step 464 the coding parameters of themerged partner block is used for adaption or prediction of the codingparameters or the remaining coding parameters of the current block. Incase of adaption, the missing coding parameters of the current block aremerely copied from the merge partner block. In the other case, namelythe case of prediction, step 464 may involve a further extraction ofresidual data from the data stream the residual data pertaining theprediction residual of the missing coding parameters of the currentblock and a combination of this residual data with the prediction ofthese missing coding parameters obtained from the merge partner block.

If, however, the number of candidate blocks is determined to be greaterthan one in step 460, the process of FIG. 10 steps forward to step 466where a check is performed as to whether the coding parameters or theinteresting part of the coding parameters—namely the subpart thereofrelating to the part not yet having been transferred within the datastream for the current block—are identical to each other. If this is thecase, these common coding parameters are set as merge reference or thecandidate blocks are set as merge partners in step 468 and therespective interesting coding parameters are used for adaption orprediction in step 464.

It should be noted that the merge partner itself may have been a blockfor which merging was signaled. In this case, the adopted orpredictively obtained coding parameters of that merging partner are usedin step 464.

Otherwise, however, i.e. in case the coding parameters are notidentical, the process of FIG. 10 proceeds to step 470, where a furthersyntax element is extracted from the data stream, namely thismerge_left_flag. A separate set of contexts may be used forentropy-decoding this flag. The set of contexts used forentropy-decoding the merge_left_flag may also comprise merely onecontext. After step 470, the candidate block indicated bymerge_left_flag is set to be the merge partner in step 472 and used foradaption or prediction in step 464. After step 464, extractor 102proceeds with handling the next block in block order.

Of course, there exist many alternatives. For example, a combined syntaxelement may be transmitted within the data stream instead of theseparate syntax elements merge_flag and merge_left_flag describedbefore, the combined syntax elements signaling the merging process.Further, the afore-mentioned merge_left_flag may be transmitted withinthe data stream irrespective of whether the two candidate blocks havethe same prediction parameters or not, thereby reducing thecomputational overhead for performing process of FIG. 10.

As was already denoted with respect to, for example, FIG. 9b , more thantwo blocks may be included in the set of candidate blocks. Further, themerging information, i.e. the information signaling whether a block ismerged and, if yes, with which candidate block it is to be merged, maybe signaled by one or more syntax elements. One syntax element couldspecify whether the block is merged with any of the candidate blockssuch as the merge_flag described above. The flag may only be transmittedif the set of candidate blocks is not empty. A second syntax element maysignal which of the candidate blocks is employed for merging such as theaforementioned merge_left_flag, but in general indicating a selectionamong two or more than two candidate blocks. The second syntax elementmay be transmitted only if the first syntax element signals that thecurrent block is to be merged with one of the candidate blocks. Thesecond syntax element may further only be transmitted if the set ofcandidate blocks contains more than one candidate block and/or if any ofthe candidate blocks have different prediction parameters than any otherof the candidate blocks. The syntax can be depending on how manycandidate blocks are given and/or on how different prediction parametersare associated with the candidate blocks.

The syntax for signaling which of the blocks of the candidate blocks tobe used, may be set simultaneously and/or parallel at the encoder anddecoder side. For example, if there are three choices for candidateblocks identified in step 450, the syntax is chosen such that only thesethree choices are available and are considered for entropy coding, forexample, in step 470. In other words, the syntax element is chosen suchthat its symbol alphabet has merely as many elements as choices ofcandidate blocks exist. The probabilities for all other choices may beconsidered to be zero and the entropy-coding/decoding may be adjustedsimultaneously at encoder and decoder.

Further, as has already been noted with respect to step 464, theprediction parameters that are inferred as a consequence of the mergingprocess may represent the complete set of prediction parameters that areassociated with the current block or they may represent a subset ofthese prediction parameters such as the prediction parameters for onehypothesis of a block for which multi-hypothesis prediction is used.

As noted above, the syntax elements related to the merging informationcould be entropy-coded using context modeling. The syntax elements mayconsist of the merge_flag and the merge_left_flag described above (orsimilar syntax elements). In a concrete example, one out of threecontext models or contexts could be used for coding/decoding themerge_flag in step 454, for example. The used context model indexmerge_flag_ctx may be derived as follows: if the set of candidate blockscontains two elements, the value of merge_flag_ctx is equal to the sumof the values of the merge_flag of the two candidate blocks. If the setof candidate blocks contains one element, however, the value ofmerge_flag_ctx may be equal to two times the value of merge_flag of thisone candidate block. As each merge_flag of the neighboring candidateblocks may either be one or zero, three contexts are available formerge_flag. The merge_left_flag may be coded using merely a singleprobability model.

However, according to an alternative embodiment, different contextmodels might be used. For example, non-binary syntax elements may bemapped onto a sequence of binary symbols, so-called bins. The contextmodels for some syntax elements or bins of syntax elements defining themerging information may be derived based on already transmitted syntaxelements of neighboring blocks or the number of candidate blocks orother measures while other syntax elements or bins of the syntaxelements may be coded with a fixed context model.

Regarding the above description of the merging of blocks, it is notedthat the set of candidate blocks may also be derived the same way as forany of the embodiments described above with the following amendment:candidate blocks are restricted to blocks using motion-compensatedprediction or interprediction, respectively. Only those can be elementsof the set of candidate blocks. The signaling and context modeling ofthe merging information could be done as described above.

Returning to the combination of the multitree subdivision embodimentsdescribed above and the merging aspect described now, if the picture isdivided into square blocks of variable size by use of a quadtree-basedsubdivision structure, for example, the merge_flag and merge_left_flagor other syntax elements specifying the merging could be interleavedwith the prediction parameters that are transmitted for each leaf nodeof the quadtree structure. Consider again, for example, FIG. 9a . FIG.9a shows an example for a quadtree-based subdivision of a picture intoprediction blocks of variable size. The top two blocks of the largestsize are so-called treeblocks, i.e., they are prediction blocks of themaximum possible size. The other blocks in this figure are obtained as asubdivision of their corresponding treeblock. The current block ismarked with an “X”. All the shaded blocks are en/decoded before thecurrent block, so they form the set of causal blocks. As explicated inthe description of the derivation of the set of candidate blocks for oneof the embodiments, only the blocks containing the direct (i.e., top orleft) neighboring samples of the top-left sample position of the currentblock can be members of the set of candidate blocks. Thus the currentblock can be merged with either block “A” or block “B”. If merge_flag isequal to 0 (for “false”), the current block “X” is not merged with anyof the two blocks. If blocks “A” and “B” have identical predictionparameters, no distinction needs to be made, since merging with any ofthe two blocks will lead to the same result. So, in this case, themerge_left_flag is not transmitted. Otherwise, if blocks “A” and “B”have different prediction parameters, merge_left_flag equal to 1 (for“true”) will merge blocks “X” and “B”, whereas merge_left_flag equal to0 (for “false”) will merge blocks “X” and “A”. In another embodiment,additional neighboring (already transmitted) blocks represent candidatesfor the merging.

In FIG. 9b another example is shown. Here the current block “X” and theleft neighbor block “B” are treeblocks, i.e. they have the maximumallowed block size. The size of the top neighbor block “A” is onequarter of the treeblock size. The blocks which are element of the setof causal blocks are shaded. Note that according to one of theembodiments, the current block “X” can only be merged with the twoblocks “A” or “B”, not with any of the other top neighboring blocks. Inanother embodiment, additional neighboring (already transmitted) blocksrepresent candidates for the merging.

Before proceeding with the description with regard to the aspect how tohandle different sample arrays of a picture in accordance withembodiments of the present application, it is noted that the abovediscussion regarding the multitree subdivision and the signaling on theone hand and the merging aspect on the other hand made clear that theseaspects provide advantages which may be exploited independent from eachother. That is, as has already been explained above, a combination of amultitree subdivision with merging has specific advantages butadvantages result also from alternatives where, for example, the mergingfeature is embodied with, however, the subdivision performed bysubdividers 30 and 104 a not being based on a quadtree or multitreesubdivision, but rather corresponding to a macroblock subdivision withregular partitioning of these macroblocks into smaller partitions. Onthe other hand, in turn, the combination of the multitree subdivisioningalong with the transmission of the maximum treeblock size indicationwithin the bitstream, and the use of the multitree subdivision alongwith the use of the depth-first traversal order transporting thecorresponding coding parameters of the blocks is advantageousindependent from the merging feature being used concurrently or not.Generally, the advantages of merging can be understood, when consideringthat, intuitively, coding efficiency may be increased when the syntax ofsample array codings is extended in a way that it does not only allow tosubdivide a block, but also to merge two or more of the blocks that areobtained after subdivision. As a result, one obtains a group of blocksthat are coded with the same prediction parameters. The predictionparameters for such a group of blocks need to be coded only once.Further, with respect to the merging of sets of samples, it should againbeen noted that the considered sets of samples may be rectangular orquadratic blocks, in which case the merged sets of samples represent acollection of rectangular and/or quadratic blocks. Alternatively,however, the considered sets of samples are arbitrarily shaped pictureregions and the merged sets of samples represent a collection ofarbitrarily shaped picture regions.

The following description focuses on the handling of different samplearrays of a picture in case there are more than one sample arrays perpicture, and some aspects outlined in the following sub-description areadvantageous independent from the kind of subdivision used, i.e.independent from the subdivision being based on multitree subdivision ornot, and independent from merging being used or not. Before startingwith describing specific embodiments regarding the handling of differentsample arrays of a picture, the main issue of these embodiments ismotivated by way of a short introduction into the field of the handlingof different sample arrays per picture.

The following discussion focuses on coding parameters between blocks ofdifferent sample arrays of a picture in an image or video codingapplication, and, in particular, a way of adaptively predicting codingparameters between different sample arrays of a picture in, for example,but not exclusively the encoder and decoder of FIGS. 1 and 2,respectively, or another image or video coding environment. The samplearrays can, as noted above, represent sample arrays that are related todifferent color components or sample arrays that associate a picturewith additional information such as transparency data or depth maps.Sample arrays that are related to color components of a picture are alsoreferred to as color planes. The technique described in the following isalso referred to as inter-plane adoption/prediction and it can be usedin block-based image and video encoders and decoders, whereby theprocessing order of the blocks of the sample arrays for a picture can bearbitrary.

Image and video coders are typically designed for coding color pictures(either still images or pictures of a video sequence). A color pictureconsists of multiple color planes, which represent sample arrays fordifferent color components. Often, color pictures are coded as a set ofsample arrays consisting of a luma plane and two chroma planes, wherethe latter ones specify color difference components. In some applicationareas, it is also common that the set of coded sample arrays consists ofthree color planes representing sample arrays for the three primarycolors red, green, and blue. In addition, for an improved colorrepresentation, a color picture may consist of more than three colorplanes. Furthermore, a picture can be associated with auxiliary samplearrays that specify additional information for the picture. Forinstance, such auxiliary sample arrays can be sample arrays that specifythe transparency (suitable for specific display purposes) for theassociated color sample arrays or sample arrays that specify a depth map(suitable for rendering multiple views, e.g., for 3-D displays).

In the conventional image and video coding standards (such as H.264),the color planes are usually coded together, whereby particular codingparameters such as macroblock and sub-macroblock prediction modes,reference indices, and motion vectors are used for all color componentsof a block. The luma plane can be considered as the primary color planefor which the particular coding parameters are specified in thebitstream, and the chroma planes can be considered as secondary planes,for which the corresponding coding parameters are inferred from theprimary luma plane. Each luma block is associated with two chroma blocksrepresenting the same area in a picture. Depending on the used chromasampling format, the chroma sample arrays can be smaller than the lumasample array for a block. For each macroblock consisting of a luma andtwo chroma components, the same partitioning into smaller blocks is used(if the macroblock is subdivided). For each block consisting of a blockof luma samples and two blocks of chroma samples (which may be themacroblock itself or a subblock of the macroblock), the same set ofprediction parameters such as reference indices, motion parameters, andsometimes intra prediction modes are employed. In specific profiles ofconventional video coding standards (such as the 4:4:4 profiles inH.264), it is also possible to code the different color planes of apicture independently. In that configuration, the macroblockpartitioning, the prediction modes, reference indices, and motionparameters can be separately chosen for a color component of amacroblock or subblock. Conventional coding standards either all colorplanes are coded together using the same set of particular codingparameters (such as subdivision information and prediction parameters)or all color planes are coded completely independently of each other.

If the color planes are coded together, one set of subdivision andprediction parameters may be used for all color components of a block.This ensures that the side information is kept small, but it can resultin a reduction of the coding efficiency compared to an independentcoding, since the usage of different block decompositions and predictionparameters for different color components can result in a smallerrate-distortion cost. As an example, the usage of a different motionvector or reference frame for the chroma components can significantlyreduce the energy of the residual signal for the chroma components andincrease their overall coding efficiency. If the color planes are codedindependently, the coding parameters such as the block partitioning, thereference indices, and the motion parameters can be selected for eachcolor component separately in order to optimize the coding efficiencyfor each color component. But it is not possible, to employ theredundancy between the color components. The multiple transmissions ofparticular coding parameters does result in an increased sideinformation rate (compared to the combined coding) and this increasedside information rate can have a negative impact on the overall codingefficiency. Also, the support for auxiliary sample arrays in thestate-of-the-art video coding standards (such as H.264) is restricted tothe case that the auxiliary sample arrays are coded using their own setof coding parameters.

Thus, in all embodiments described so far, the picture planes could behandled as described above, but as also discussed above, the overallcoding efficiency for the coding of multiple sample arrays (which may berelated to different color planes and/or auxiliary sample arrays) can beincreased, when it would be possible to decide on a block basis, forexample, whether all sample arrays for a block are coded with the samecoding parameters or whether different coding parameters are used. Thebasic idea of the following inter-plane prediction is to allow such anadaptive decision on a block basis, for example. The encoder can choose,for example based on a rate-distortion criterion, whether all or some ofthe sample arrays for a particular block are coded using the same codingparameters or whether different coding parameters are used for differentsample arrays. This selection can also be achieved by signaling for aparticular block of a sample array whether specific coding parametersare inferred from an already coded co-located block of a differentsample array. It is also possible to arrange different sample arrays fora picture in groups, which are also referred to as sample array groupsor plane groups. Each plane group can contain one or more sample arraysof a picture. Then, the blocks of the sample arrays inside a plane groupshare the same selected coding parameters such as subdivisioninformation, prediction modes, and residual coding modes, whereas othercoding parameters such as transform coefficient levels are separatelytransmitted for each sample arrays inside the plane group. One planegroup is coded as primary plane group, i.e., none of the codingparameters is inferred or predicted from other plane groups. For eachblock of a secondary plane group, it can be adaptively chosen whether anew set of selected coding parameters is transmitted or whether theselected coding parameters are inferred or predicted from the primary oranother secondary plane group. The decisions of whether selected codingparameters for a particular block are inferred or predicted are includedin the bitstream. The inter-plane prediction allows a greater freedom inselecting the trade-off between the side information rate and predictionquality relative to the state-of-the-art coding of pictures consistingof multiple sample arrays. The advantage is an improved codingefficiency relative to the conventional coding of pictures consisting ofmultiple sample arrays.

Intra-plane adoption/prediction may extend an image or video coder, suchas those of the above embodiments, in a way that it can be adaptivelychosen for a block of a color sample array or an auxiliary sample arrayor a set of color sample arrays and/or auxiliary sample arrays whether aselected set of coding parameters is inferred or predicted from alreadycoded co-located blocks of other sample arrays in the same picture orwhether the selected set of coding parameters for the block isindependently coded without referring to co-located blocks of othersample arrays in the same picture. The decisions of whether the selectedset of coding parameters is inferred or predicted for a block of asample array or a block of multiple sample arrays may be included in thebitstream. The different sample arrays that are associated with apicture don't need to have the same size.

As described above, the sample arrays that are associated with a picture(the sample arrays can represent color components and/or auxiliarysample arrays) may be arranged into two or more so-called plane groups,where each plane group consists of one or more sample arrays. The samplearrays that are contained in a particular plane group don't need to havethe same size. Note that this arrangement into plane group includes thecase that each sample array is coded separately.

To be more precise, in accordance with an embodiment, it is adaptivelychosen, for each block of a plane group, whether the coding parametersspecifying how a block is predicted are inferred or predicted from analready coded co-located block of a different plane group for the samepicture or whether these coding parameters are separately coded for theblock. The coding parameters that specify how a block is predictedinclude one or more of the following coding parameters: block predictionmodes specifying what prediction is used for the block (intraprediction, inter prediction using a single motion vector and referencepicture, inter prediction using two motion vectors and referencepictures, inter prediction using a higher-order, i.e., non-translationalmotion model and a single reference picture, inter prediction usingmultiple motion models and reference pictures), intra prediction modesspecifying how an intra prediction signal is generated, an identifierspecifying how many prediction signals are combined for generating thefinal prediction signal for the block, reference indices specifyingwhich reference picture(s) is/are employed for motion-compensatedprediction, motion parameters (such as displacement vectors or affinemotion parameters) specifying how the prediction signal(s) is/aregenerated using the reference picture(s), an identifier specifying howthe reference picture(s) is/are filtered for generatingmotion-compensated prediction signals. Note that in general, a block canbe associated with only a subset of the mentioned coding parameters. Forinstance, if the block prediction mode specifies that a block is intrapredicted, the coding parameters for a block can additionally includeintra prediction modes, but coding parameters such as reference indicesand motion parameters that specify how an inter prediction signal isgenerated are not specified; or if the block prediction mode specifiesinter prediction, the associated coding parameters can additionallyinclude reference indices and motion parameters, but intra predictionmodes are not specified.

One of the two or more plane groups may be coded or indicated within thebitstream as the primary plane group. For all blocks of this primaryplane group, the coding parameters specifying how the prediction signalis generated are transmitted without referring to other plane groups ofthe same picture. The remaining plane groups are coded as secondaryplane groups. For each block of the secondary plane groups, one or moresyntax elements are transmitted that signal whether the codingparameters for specifying how the block is predicted are inferred orpredicted from a co-located block of other plane groups or whether a newset of these coding parameters is transmitted for the block. One of theone or more syntax elements may be referred to as inter-plane predictionflag or inter-plane prediction parameter. If the syntax elements signalthat the corresponding coding parameters are not inferred or predicted,a new set of the corresponding coding parameters for the block aretransmitted in the bitstream. If the syntax elements signal that thecorresponding coding parameters are inferred or predicted, theco-located block in a so-called reference plane group is determined. Theassignment of the reference plane group for the block can be configuredin multiple ways. In one embodiment, a particular reference plane groupis assigned to each secondary plane group; this assignment can be fixedor it can signaled in high-level syntax structures such as parametersets, access unit header, picture header, or slice header.

In a second embodiment, the assignment of the reference plane group iscoded inside the bitstream and signaled by the one or more syntaxelements that are coded for a block in order to specify whether theselected coding parameters are inferred or predicted or separatelycoded.

In order to ease the just-mentioned possibilities in connection withinter-plane prediction and the following detailed embodiments, referenceis made to FIG. 11, which shows illustratively a picture 500 composed ofthree sample arrays 502, 504 and 506. For the sake of easierunderstanding, merely sub-portions of the sample arrays 502-506 areshown in FIG. 11. The sample arrays are shown as if they were registeredagainst each other spatially, so that the sample arrays 502-506 overlayeach other along a direction 508 and so that a projection of the samplesof the sample arrays 502-506 along the direction 508 results in thesamples of all these sample arrays 502-506 to be correctly spatiallylocated to each other. In yet other words, the planes 502 and 506 havebeen spread along the horizontal and vertical direction in order toadapt their spatial resolution to each other and to register them toeach other.

In accordance with an embodiment, all sample arrays of a picture belongto the same portion of a spatial scene wherein the resolution along thevertical and horizontal direction may differ between the individualsample arrays 502-506. Further, for illustration purposes, the samplearrays 502 and 504 are considered to belong to one plane group 510,whereas the sample array 506 is considered to belong to another planegroup 512. Further, FIG. 11 illustrates the exemplary case where thespatial resolution along the horizontal axis of sample array 504 istwice the resolution in the horizontal direction of sample array 502.Moreover, sample array 504 is considered to form the primary arrayrelative to sample array 502, which forms a subordinate array relativeto primary array 504. As explained earlier, in this case, thesubdivision of sample array 504 into blocks as decided by subdivider 30of FIG. 1 is adopted by subordinate array 502 wherein, in accordancewith the example of FIG. 11, due to the vertical resolution of samplearray 502 being half the resolution in the vertical direction of primaryarray 504, each block has been halved into two horizontallyjuxtapositioned blocks, which, due to the halving are quadratic blocksagain when measured in units of the sample positions within sample array502.

As is exemplarily shown in FIG. 11, the subdivision chosen for samplearray 506 is different from the subdivision of the other plane group510. As described before, subdivider 30 may select the subdivision ofpixel array 506 separately or independent from the subdivision for planegroup 510. Of course, the resolution of sample array 506 may also differfrom the resolutions of the planes 502 and 504 of plane group 510.

Now, when encoding the individual sample arrays 502-506, the encoder 10may begin with coding the primary array 504 of plane group 510 in, forexample, the manner described above. The blocks shown in FIG. 11 may,for example, be the prediction blocks mentioned above. Alternatively,the blocks are residual blocks or other blocks defining the granularityfor defining certain coding parameters. The inter-plane prediction isnot restricted to quadtree or multitree subdivision, although this isillustrated in FIG. 11.

After the transmission of the syntax element for primary array 504,encoder 10 may decide to declare primary array 504 to be the referenceplane for subordinate plane 502. Encoder 10 and extractor 30,respectively, may signal this decision via the bitstream 22 while theassociation may be clear from the fact that sample array 504 forms theprimary array of plane group 510 which information, in turn, may also bepart of the bitstream 22. In any case, for each block within samplearray 502 inserter 18 or any other module of encoder 10 along withinserter 18 may decide to either suppress a transferal of the codingparameters of this block within the bitstream and to signal within thebitstream for that block instead that the coding parameters of aco-located block within the primary array 504 shall be used instead, orthat the coding parameters of the co-located block within the primaryarray 504 shall be used as a prediction for the coding parameters of thecurrent block of sample array 502 with merely transferring the residualdata thereof for the current block of the sample array 502 within thebitstream. In case of a negative decision, the coding parameters aretransferred within the data stream as usual. The decision is signaledwithin the data stream 22 for each block. At the decoder side, theextractor 102 uses this inter-plane prediction information for eachblock in order to gain the coding parameters of the respective block ofthe sample array 502 accordingly, namely by inferring the codingparameters of the co-located block of the primary array 504 or,alternatively, extracting residual data for that block from the datastream and combining this residual data with a prediction obtained fromthe coding parameters of the co-located block of the primary array 504if the inter-plane adoption/prediction information suggests inter-planeadoption/prediction, or extracting the coding parameters of the currentblock of the sample array 502 as usual independent from the primaryarray 504.

As also described before, reference planes are not restricted to residewithin the same plane group as the block for which inter-planeprediction is currently of interest. Therefore, as described above,plane group 510 may represent the primary plane group or reference planegroup for the secondary plane group 512. In this case, the bitstreammight contain a syntax element indicating for each block of sample array506 as to whether the afore-mentioned adoption/prediction of codingparameters of co-located macroblocks of any of the planes 502 and 504 ofthe primary plane group or reference plane group 510 shall be performedor not wherein in the latter case the coding parameters of the currentblock of sample array 506 are transmitted as usual.

It should be noted that the subdivision and/or prediction parameters forthe planes inside a plane group can be the same, i.e., because they areonly coded once for a plane group (all secondary planes of a plane groupinfer the subdivision information and/or prediction parameters from theprimary plane inside the same plane group), and the adaptive predictionor inference of the subdivision information and/or prediction parametersis done between plane groups.

It should be noted that the reference plane group can be a primary planegroup or a secondary plane group.

The co-location between blocks of different planes within a plane groupis readily understandable as the subdivision of the primary sample array504 is spatially adopted by the subordinate sample array 502, except thejust-described sub-partitioning of the blocks in order to render theadopted leaf blocks into quadratic blocks. In case of inter-planeadoption/prediction between different plane groups, the co-locationmight be defined in a way so as to allow for a greater freedom betweenthe subdivisions of these plane groups. Given the reference plane group,the co-located block inside the reference plane group is determined. Thederivation of the co-located block and the reference plane group can bedone by a process similar to the following. A particular sample 514 inthe current block 516 of one of the sample arrays 506 of the secondaryplane group 512 is selected. Same may be the top-left sample of thecurrent block 516 as shown at 514 in FIG. 11 for illustrative purposesor, a sample in the current block 516 close to the middle of the currentblock 516 or any other sample inside the current block, which isgeometrically uniquely defined. The location of this selected sample 515inside a sample array 502 and 504 of the reference plane group 510 iscalculated. The positions of the sample 514 within the sample arrays 502and 504 are indicated in FIG. 11 at 518 and 520, respectively. Which ofthe planes 502 and 504 within the reference plane group 510 is actuallyused may be predetermined or may be signaled within the bitstream. Thesample within the corresponding sample array 502 or 504 of the referenceplane group 510, being closest to the positions 518 and 520,respectively, is determined and the block that contains this sample ischosen as the co-located block within the respective sample array 502and 504, respectively. In case of FIG. 11, these are blocks 522 and 524,respectively. An alternative approach for determining co-located blockin other planes is described later.

In an embodiment, the coding parameters specifying the prediction forthe current block 516 are completely inferred using the correspondingprediction parameters of the co-located block 522/524 in a differentplane group 510 of the same picture 500, without transmitting additionalside information. The inference can consist of a simply copying of thecorresponding coding parameters or an adaptation of the codingparameters taken into account differences between the current 512 andthe reference plane group 510. As an example, this adaptation mayconsist of adding a motion parameter correction (e.g., a displacementvector correction) for taking into account the phase difference betweenluma and chroma sample arrays; or the adaptation may consist ofmodifying the precision of the motion parameters (e.g., modifying theprecision of displacement vectors) for taking into account the differentresolution of luma and chroma sample arrays. In a further embodiment,one or more of the inferred coding parameters for specifying theprediction signal generation are not directly used for the current block516, but are used as a prediction for the corresponding codingparameters for the current block 516 and a refinement of these codingparameters for the current block 516 is transmitted in the bitstream 22.As an example, the inferred motion parameters are not directly used, butmotion parameter differences (such as a displacement vector difference)specifying the deviation between the motion parameters that are used forthe current block 516 and the inferred motion parameters are coded inthe bitstream; at the decoder side, the actual used motion parametersare obtained by combining the inferred motion parameters and thetransmitted motion parameter differences.

In another embodiment, the subdivision of a block, such as thetreeblocks of the aforementioned prediction subdivision into predictionblocks (i.e., blocks of samples for which the same set of predictionparameters is used) is adaptively inferred or predicted from an alreadycoded co-located block of a different plane group for the same picture,i.e. the bit sequence according to FIG. 6a or 6 b. In an embodiment, oneof the two or more plane groups is coded as primary plane group. For allblocks of this primary plane group, the subdivision information istransmitted without referring to other plane groups of the same picture.The remaining plane groups are coded as secondary plane groups. Forblocks of the secondary plane groups, one or more syntax elements aretransmitted that signal whether the subdivision information is inferredor predicted from a co-located block of other plane groups or whetherthe subdivision information is transmitted in the bitstream. One of theone or more syntax elements may be referred to as inter-plane predictionflag or inter-plane prediction parameter. If the syntax elements signalthat the subdivision information is not inferred or predicted, thesubdivision information for the block is transmitted in the bitstreamwithout referring to other plane groups of the same picture. If thesyntax elements signal that the subdivision information is inferred orpredicted, the co-located block in a so-called reference plane group isdetermined. The assignment of the reference plane group for the blockcan be configured in multiple ways. In one embodiment, a particularreference plane group is assigned to each secondary plane group; thisassignment can be fixed or it can signaled in high-level syntaxstructures as parameter sets, access unit header, picture header, orslice header. In a second embodiment, the assignment of the referenceplane group is coded inside the bitstream and signaled by the one ormore syntax elements that are coded for a block in order to specifywhether the subdivision information is inferred or predicted orseparately coded. The reference plane group can be the primary planegroup or another secondary plane group. Given the reference plane group,the co-located block inside the reference plane group is determined. Theco-located block is the block in the reference plane group thatcorresponds to the same image area as the current block, or the blockthat represents the block inside the reference plane group that sharesthe largest portion of the image area with the current block. Theco-located block can be partitioned into smaller prediction blocks.

In a further embodiment, the subdivision information for the currentblock, such as the quadtree-based subdivision info according to FIG. 6aor 6 b, is completely inferred using the subdivision information of theco-located block in a different plane group of the same picture, withouttransmitting additional side information. As a particular example, ifthe co-located block is partitioned into two or four prediction blocks,the current block is also partitioned into two or four subblocks for thepurpose of prediction. As another particular example, if the co-locatedblock is partitioned into four subblocks and one of these subblocks isfurther partitioned into four smaller subblocks, the current block isalso partitioned into four subblocks and one of these subblocks (the onecorresponding to the subblock of the co-located block that is furtherdecomposed) is also partitioned into four smaller subblocks. In afurther embodiment, the inferred subdivision information is not directlyused for the current block, but it is used as a prediction for theactual subdivision information for the current block, and thecorresponding refinement information is transmitted in the bitstream. Asan example, the subdivision information that is inferred from theco-located block may be further refined. For each subblock thatcorresponds to a subblock in the co-located block that is notpartitioned into smaller blocks, a syntax element can be coded in thebitstream, which specifies if the subblock is further decomposed in thecurrent plane group. The transmission of such a syntax element can beconditioned on the size of the subblock. Or it can be signaled in thebitstream that a subblock that is further partitioned in the referenceplane group is not partitioned into smaller blocks in the current planegroup.

In a further embodiment, both the subdivision of a block into predictionblocks and the coding parameters specifying how that subblocks arepredicted are adaptively inferred or predicted from an already codedco-located block of a different plane group for the same picture. In anembodiment of the invention, one of the two or more plane groups iscoded as primary plane group. For all blocks of this primary planegroup, the subdivision information and the prediction parameters aretransmitted without referring to other plane groups of the same picture.The remaining plane groups are coded as secondary plane groups. Forblocks of the secondary plane groups, one or more syntax elements aretransmitted that signal whether the subdivision information and theprediction parameters are inferred or predicted from a co-located blockof other plane groups or whether the subdivision information and theprediction parameters are transmitted in the bitstream. One of the oneor more syntax elements may be referred to as inter-plane predictionflag or inter-plane prediction parameter. If the syntax elements signalthat the subdivision information and the prediction parameters are notinferred or predicted, the subdivision information for the block and theprediction parameters for the resulting subblocks are transmitted in thebitstream without referring to other plane groups of the same picture.If the syntax elements signal that the subdivision information and theprediction parameters for the subblock are inferred or predicted, theco-located block in a so-called reference plane group is determined. Theassignment of the reference plane group for the block can be configuredin multiple ways. In one embodiment, a particular reference plane groupis assigned to each secondary plane group; this assignment can be fixedor it can signaled in high-level syntax structures such as parametersets, access unit header, picture header, or slice header. In a secondembodiment, the assignment of the reference plane group is coded insidethe bitstream and signaled by the one or more syntax elements that arecoded for a block in order to specify whether the subdivisioninformation and the prediction parameters are inferred or predicted orseparately coded. The reference plane group can be the primary planegroup or another secondary plane group. Given the reference plane group,the co-located block inside the reference plane group is determined. Theco-located block may be the block in the reference plane group thatcorresponds to the same image area as the current block, or the blockthat represents the block inside the reference plane group that sharesthe largest portion of the image area with the current block. Theco-located block can be partitioned into smaller prediction blocks. Inone embodiment, the subdivision information for the current block aswell as the prediction parameters for the resulting subblocks arecompletely inferred using the subdivision information of the co-locatedblock in a different plane group of the same picture and the predictionparameters of the corresponding subblocks, without transmittingadditional side information. As a particular example, if the co-locatedblock is partitioned into two or four prediction blocks, the currentblock is also partitioned into two or four subblocks for the purpose ofprediction and the prediction parameters for the subblocks of thecurrent block are derived as described above. As another particularexample, if the co-located block is partitioned into four subblocks andone of these subblocks is further partitioned into four smallersubblocks, the current block is also partitioned into four subblocks andone of these subblocks (the one corresponding to the subblock of theco-located block that is further decomposed) is also partitioned intofour smaller subblocks and the prediction parameters for all not furtherpartitioned subblocks are inferred as described above. In a furtherembodiment, the subdivision information is completely inferred based onthe subdivision information of the co-located block in the referenceplane group, but the inferred prediction parameters for the subblocksare only used as prediction for the actual prediction parameters of thesubblocks. The deviations between the actual prediction parameters andthe inferred prediction parameters are coded in the bitstream. In afurther embodiment, the inferred subdivision information is used as aprediction for the actual subdivision information for the current blockand the difference is transmitted in the bitstream (as described above),but the prediction parameters are completely inferred. In anotherembodiment, both the inferred subdivision information and the inferredprediction parameters are used as prediction and the differences betweenthe actual subdivision information and prediction parameters and theirinferred values are transmitted in the bitstream.

In another embodiment, it is adaptively chosen, for a block of a planegroup, whether the residual coding modes (such as the transform type)are inferred or predicted from an already coded co-located block of adifferent plane group for the same picture or whether the residualcoding modes are separately coded for the block. This embodiment issimilar to the embodiment for the adaptive inference/prediction of theprediction parameters described above.

In another embodiment, the subdivision of a block (e.g., a predictionblock) into transform blocks (i.e., blocks of samples to which atwo-dimensional transform is applied) is adaptively inferred orpredicted from an already coded co-located block of a different planegroup for the same picture. This embodiment is similar to the embodimentfor the adaptive inference/prediction of the subdivision into predictionblocks described above.

In another embodiment, the subdivision of a block into transform blocksand the residual coding modes (e.g., transform types) for the resultingtransform blocks are adaptively inferred or predicted from an alreadycoded co-located block of a different plane group for the same picture.This embodiment is similar to the embodiment for the adaptiveinference/prediction of the subdivision into prediction blocks and theprediction parameters for the resulting prediction blocks describedabove.

In another embodiment, the subdivision of a block into predictionblocks, the associated prediction parameters, the subdivisioninformation of the prediction blocks, and the residual coding modes forthe transform blocks are adaptively inferred or predicted from analready coded co-located block of a different plane group for the samepicture. This embodiment represents a combination of the embodimentsdescribed above. It is also possible that only some of the mentionedcoding parameters are inferred or predicted.

Thus, the inter-plane adoption/prediction may increase the codingefficiency described previously. However, the coding efficiency gain byway of inter-plane adoption/prediction is also available in case ofother block subdivisions being used than multitree-based subdivisionsand independent from block merging being implemented or not.

The above-outlined embodiments with respect to inter planeadaptation/prediction are applicable to image and video encoders anddecoders that divide the color planes of a picture and, if present, theauxiliary sample arrays associated with a picture into blocks andassociate these blocks with coding parameters. For each block, a set ofcoding parameters may be included in the bitstream. For instance, thesecoding parameters can be parameters that describe how a block ispredicted or decoded at the decoder side. As particular examples, thecoding parameters can represent macroblock or block prediction modes,sub-division information, intra prediction modes, reference indices usedfor motion-compensated prediction, motion parameters such asdisplacement vectors, residual coding modes, transform coefficients,etc. The different sample arrays that are associated with a picture canhave different sizes.

Next, a scheme for enhanced signaling of coding parameters within atree-based partitioning scheme as, for example, those described abovewith respect to FIGS. 1 to 8 is described. As with the other schemes,namely merging and inter plane adoption/prediction, the effects andadvantages of the enhanced signaling schemes, in the following oftencalled inheritance, are described independent from the aboveembodiments, although the below described schemes are combinable withany of the above embodiments, either alone or in combination.

Generally, the improved coding scheme for coding side information withina tree-based partitioning scheme, called inheritance, described nextenables the following advantages relative to conventional schemes ofcoding parameter treatment.

In conventional image and video coding, the pictures or particular setsof sample arrays for the pictures are usually decomposed into blocks,which are associated with particular coding parameters. The picturesusually consist of multiple sample arrays. In addition, a picture mayalso be associated with additional auxiliary samples arrays, which may,for example, specify transparency information or depth maps. The samplearrays of a picture (including auxiliary sample arrays) can be groupedinto one or more so-called plane groups, where each plane group consistsof one or more sample arrays. The plane groups of a picture can be codedindependently or, if the picture is associated with more than one planegroup, with prediction from other plane groups of the same picture. Eachplane group is usually decomposed into blocks. The blocks (or thecorresponding blocks of sample arrays) are predicted by eitherinter-picture prediction or intra-picture prediction. The blocks canhave different sizes and can be either quadratic or rectangular. Thepartitioning of a picture into blocks can be either fixed by the syntax,or it can be (at least partly) signaled inside the bitstream. Oftensyntax elements are transmitted that signal the subdivision for blocksof predefined sizes. Such syntax elements may specify whether and how ablock is subdivided into smaller blocks and being associated codingparameters, e.g. for the purpose of prediction. For all samples of ablock (or the corresponding blocks of sample arrays) the decoding of theassociated coding parameters is specified in a certain way. In theexample, all samples in a block are predicted using the same set ofprediction parameters, such as reference indices (identifying areference picture in the set of already coded pictures), motionparameters (specifying a measure for the movement of a blocks between areference picture and the current picture), parameters for specifyingthe interpolation filter, intra prediction modes, etc. The motionparameters can be represented by displacement vectors with a horizontaland vertical component or by higher order motion parameters such asaffine motion parameters consisting of six components. It is alsopossible that more than one set of particular prediction parameters(such as reference indices and motion parameters) are associated with asingle block. In that case, for each set of these particular predictionparameters, a single intermediate prediction signal for the block (orthe corresponding blocks of sample arrays) is generated, and the finalprediction signal is built by a combination including superimposing theintermediate prediction signals. The corresponding weighting parametersand potentially also a constant offset (which is added to the weightedsum) can either be fixed for a picture, or a reference picture, or a setof reference pictures, or they can be included in the set of predictionparameters for the corresponding block. The difference between theoriginal blocks (or the corresponding blocks of sample arrays) and theirprediction signals, also referred to as the residual signal, is usuallytransformed and quantized. Often, a two-dimensional transform is appliedto the residual signal (or the corresponding sample arrays for theresidual block). For transform coding, the blocks (or the correspondingblocks of sample arrays), for which a particular set of predictionparameters has been used, can be further split before applying thetransform. The transform blocks can be equal to or smaller than theblocks that are used for prediction. It is also possible that atransform block includes more than one of the blocks that are used forprediction. Different transform blocks can have different sizes and thetransform blocks can represent quadratic or rectangular blocks. Aftertransform, the resulting transform coefficients are quantized andso-called transform coefficient levels are obtained. The transformcoefficient levels as well as the prediction parameters and, if present,the subdivision information is entropy coded.

In some image and video coding standards, the possibilities forsubdividing a picture (or a plane group) into blocks that are providedby the syntax are very limited. Usually, it can only be specifiedwhether and (potentially how) a block of a predefined size can besubdivided into smaller blocks. As an example, the largest block size inH.264 is 16×16. The 16×16 blocks are also referred to as macroblocks andeach picture is partitioned into macroblocks in a first step. For each16×16 macroblock, it can be signaled whether it is coded as 16×16 block,or as two 16×8 blocks, or as two 8×16 blocks, or as four 8×8 blocks. Ifa 16×16 block is subdivided into four 8×8 block, each of these 8×8blocks can be either coded as one 8×8 block, or as two 8×4 blocks, or astwo 4×8 blocks, or as four 4×4 blocks. The small set of possibilitiesfor specifying the partitioning into blocks in state-of-the-art imageand video coding standards has the advantage that the side informationrate for signaling the subdivision information can be kept small, but ithas the disadvantage that the bit rate necessitated for transmitting theprediction parameters for the blocks can become significant as explainedin the following. The side information rate for signaling the predictioninformation does usually represent a significant amount of the overallbit rate for a block. And the coding efficiency could be increased whenthis side information is reduced, which, for instance, could be achievedby using larger block sizes. Real images or pictures of a video sequenceconsist of arbitrarily shaped objects with specific properties. As anexample, such objects or parts of the objects are characterized by aunique texture or a unique motion. And usually, the same set ofprediction parameters can be applied for such an object or part of anobject. But the object boundaries usually don't coincide with thepossible block boundaries for large prediction blocks (e.g., 16×16macroblocks in H.264). An encoder usually determines the subdivision(among the limited set of possibilities) that results in the minimum ofa particular rate-distortion cost measure. For arbitrarily shapedobjects this can result in a large number of small blocks. And sinceeach of these small blocks is associated with a set of predictionparameters, which need to be transmitted, the side information rate canbecome a significant part of the overall bit rate. But since several ofthe small blocks still represent areas of the same object or part of anobject, the prediction parameters for a number of the obtained blocksare the same or very similar. Intuitively, the coding efficiency couldbe increased when the syntax is extended in a way that it does not onlyallow to subdivide a block, but also to share coding parameters betweenthe blocks that are obtained after subdivision. In a tree-basedsubdivision, sharing of coding parameters for a given set of blocks canbe achieved by assigning the coding parameters or parts thereof to oneor more parent nodes in the tree-based hierarchy. As a result, theshared parameters or parts thereof can be used in order to reduce theside information needed to signal the actual choice of coding parametersfor the blocks obtained after subdivision. Reduction can be achieved byomitting the signaling of parameters for subsequent blocks or by usingthe shared parameter(s) for prediction and/or context modeling of theparameters for subsequent blocks.

The basic idea of the inheritance scheme describe below is to reduce thebit rate that is necessitated for transmitting the coding parameters bysharing information along the tree-based hierarchy of blocks. The sharedinformation is signaled inside the bitstream (in addition to thesubdivision information). The advantage of the inheritance scheme is anincreased coding efficiency resulting from a decreased side informationrate for the coding parameters.

In order to reduce the side information rate, in accordance with theembodiments described below, the respective coding parameters forparticular sets of samples, i.e. simply connected regions, which mayrepresent rectangular or quadratic blocks or arbitrarily shaped regionsor any other collection of samples, of a multitree subdivision aresignaled within the data stream in an efficient way. The inheritancescheme described below enables that the coding parameters don not haveto be explicitly included in the bitstream for each of these sample setsin full. The coding parameters may represent prediction parameters,which specify how the corresponding set of samples is predicted usingalready coded samples. Many possibilities and examples have beendescribed above and do also apply here. As has also been indicatedabove, and will be described further below, as far as the followinginheritance scheme is concerned, the tree-based partitioning of thesample arrays of a picture into sample sets may be fixed by the syntaxor may be signaled by corresponding subdivision information inside thebitstream. The coding parameters for the sample sets may, as describedabove, transmitted in a predefined order, which is given by the syntax.

In accordance with the inheritance scheme, the decoder or extractor 102of the decoder is configured to derive the information on the codingparameters of the individual simply connected region or sample sets in aspecific way. In particular, coding parameters or parts thereof such asthose parameters serving for the purpose of prediction, are sharedbetween blocks along the given tree-based partitioning scheme with thesharing group along the tree structure being decided by the encoder orinserter 18, respectively. In a particular embodiment, sharing of thecoding parameters for all child nodes of a given internal node of thepartitioning tree is indicated by using a specific binary-valued sharingflag. As an alternative approach, refinements of the coding parameterscan be transmitted for each node such that the accumulated refinementsof parameters along the tree-based hierarchy of blocks can be applied toall sample sets of the block at a given leaf node. In anotherembodiment, parts of the coding parameters that are transmitted forinternal nodes along the tree-based hierarchy of blocks can be used forcontext-adaptive entropy encoding and decoding of the coding parameteror parts thereof for the block at a given leaf node.

FIGS. 12a and 12b illustrate the basis idea of inheritance for thespecific case of using a quadtree-based partitioning. However, asindicated several times above, other multitree subdivision schemes maybe used as well the tree structure is shown in FIG. 12a whereas thecorresponding spatial partitioning corresponding to the tree structureof FIG. 12a is shown in FIG. 12b . The partitioning shown therein issimilar to that shown with respect to FIGS. 3a to 3c . Generallyspeaking, the inheritance scheme will allow side information to beassigned to nodes at different non-leaf layers within the treestructure. Depending on the assignment of side information to nodes atthe different layers in the tree, such as the internal nodes in the treeof FIG. 12a or the root node thereof, different degrees of sharing sideinformation can be achieved within the tree hierarchy of blocks shown inFIG. 12b . For example, if it is decided that all the leaf nodes inlayer 4, which, in case of FIG. 12a all have the same parent node, shallshare side information, virtually, this means that the smallest blocksin FIG. 12b indicated with 156 a to 156 d share this side informationand it is no longer necessary to transmit the side information for allthese small blocks 156 a to 156 d in full, i.e. four times, althoughthis is kept as an option for the encoder However, it would also bepossible to decide that a whole region of hierarchy level 1 (layer 2) ofFIG. 12a , namely the quarter portion at the top right hand corner oftree block 150 including the subblocks 154 a, 154 b and 154 d as well asthe even smaller subblock 156 a to 156 d just-mentioned, serves as aregion wherein coding parameters are shared. Thus, the area sharing sideinformation is increased. The next level of increase would be to sum-upall the subblocks of layer 1, namely subblocks 152 a, 152 c and 152 dand the afore-mentioned smaller blocks. In other words, in this case,the whole tree block would have side information assigned thereto withall the subblocks of this tree block 150 sharing the side information.

In the following description of inheritance, the following notation isused for describing the embodiments:

a. Reconstructed samples of current leaf node: r

b. Reconstructed samples of neighboring leaves: r′

c. Predictor of the current leaf node: p

d. Residual of the current leaf node: Re s

e. Reconstructed residual of the current leaf node: Re c Re s

f. Scaling and Inverse transform: SIT

g. Sharing flag: f

As a first example of inheritance, the intra-prediction signalization atinternal nodes may be described. To be more precise, it is described howto signalize intra-prediction modes at internal nodes of a tree-basedblock partitioning for the purpose of prediction. By traversing the treefrom the root node to the leaf nodes, internal nodes (including the rootnode) may convey parts of side information that will be exploited by itscorresponding child nodes. To be more specific, a sharing flag f istransmitted for internal nodes with the following meaning:

-   -   If f has a value of 1 (“true”), all child nodes of the given        internal node share the same intra-prediction mode. In addition        to the sharing flag f with a value of 1, the internal node also        signals the intra-prediction mode parameter to be used for all        child nodes. Consequently, all subsequent child nodes do not        carry any prediction mode information as well as any sharing        flags. For the reconstruction of all related leaf nodes, the        decoder applies the intra-prediction mode from the corresponding        internal node.    -   If f has a value of 0 (“false”), the child nodes of the        corresponding internal node do not share the same        intra-prediction mode and each child node that is an internal        node carries a separate sharing flag.

FIG. 12c illustrates the intra-prediction signalization at internalnodes as described above. The internal node in layer 1 conveys thesharing flag and the side information which is given by theintra-prediction mode information and the child nodes are not carryingany side information.

As a second example of inheritance, the inter-prediction refinement maybe described. To be more precise, it is described how to signalize sideinformation of inter-prediction modes at internal modes of a tree-basedblock partitioning for the purpose of refinement of motion parameters,as e.g., given by motion vectors. By traversing the tree from the rootnode to the leaf nodes, internal nodes (including the root node) mayconvey parts of side information that will be refined by itscorresponding child nodes. To be more specific, a sharing flag f istransmitted for internal nodes with the following meaning:

-   -   If f has a value of 1 (“true”), all child nodes of the given        internal node share the same motion vector reference. In        addition to the sharing flag f with a value of 1, the internal        node also signals the motion vector and the reference index.        Consequently, all subsequent child nodes carry no further        sharing flags but may carry a refinement of this inherited        motion vector reference. For the reconstruction of all related        leaf nodes, the decoder adds the motion vector refinement at the        given leaf node to the inherited motion vector reference        belonging to its corresponding internal parent node that has a        sharing flag f with a value of 1. This means that the motion        vector refinement at a given leaf node is the difference between        the actual motion vector to be applied for motion-compensated        prediction at this leaf node and the motion vector reference of        its corresponding internal parent node.    -   If f has a value of 0 (“false”), the child nodes of the        corresponding internal node do not necessarily share the same        inter-prediction mode and no refinement of the motion parameters        is performed at the child nodes by using the motion parameters        from the corresponding internal node and each child node that is        an internal node carries a separate sharing flag.

FIG. 12d illustrates the motion parameter refinement as described above.The internal node in layer 1 is conveying the sharing flag and sideinformation. The child nodes which are leaf nodes carry only the motionparameter refinements and, e.g., the internal child node in layer 2carries no side information.

Reference is made now to FIG. 13. FIG. 13 shows a flow diagramillustrating the mode of operation of a decoder such as the decoder ofFIG. 2 in reconstructing an array of information samples representing aspatial example information signal, which is subdivided into leafregions of different sizes by multi-tree subdivision, from a datastream. As has been described above, each leaf region has associatedtherewith a hierarchy level out of a sequence of hierarchy levels of themulti-tree subdivision. For example, all blocks shown in FIG. 12b areleaf regions. Leaf region 156 c, for example, is associated withhierarchy layer 4 (or level 3). Each leaf region has associatedtherewith coding parameters. Examples of these coding parameters havebeen described above. The coding parameters are, for each leaf region,represented by a respective set of syntax elements. Each syntax elementis of a respective syntax element type out of a set of syntax elementtypes. Such syntax element type is, for example, a prediction mode, amotion vector component, an indication of an intra-prediction mode orthe like. According to FIG. 13, the decoder performs the followingsteps.

In step 550, an inheritance information is extracted from the datastream. In case of FIG. 2, the extractor 102 is responsible for step550. The inheritance information indicates as to whether inheritance isused or not for the current array of information samples. The followingdescription will reveal that there are several possibilities for theinheritance information such as, inter alias, the sharing flag f and thesignaling of a multitree structure divided into a primary and secondarypart.

The array of information samples may already be a subpart of a picture,such as a treeblock, namely the treeblock 150 of FIG. 12b , for example.Thus, the inheritance information indicates as to whether inheritance isused or not for the specific treeblock 150. Such inheritance informationmay be inserted into the data stream for all tree blocks of theprediction subdivision, for example.

Further, the inheritance information indicates, if inheritance isindicated to be used, at least one inheritance region of the array ofinformation samples, which is composed of a set of leaf regions andcorresponds to an hierarchy level of the sequence of hierarchy levels ofthe multi-tree subdivision, being lower than each of the hierarchylevels with which the set of leaf regions are associated. In otherwords, the inheritance information indicates as to whether inheritanceis to be used or not for the current sample array such as the treeblock150. If yes, it denotes at least one inheritance region or subregion ofthis treeblock 150, within which the leaf regions share codingparameters. Thus, the inheritance region may not be a leaf region. Inthe example of FIG. 12b , this inheritance region may, for example, bethe region formed by subblocks 156 a to 156 b. Alternatively, theinheritance region may be larger and may encompass also additionally thesubblocks 154 a,b and d, and even alternatively, the inheritance regionmay be the treeblock 150 itself with all the leaf blocks thereof sharingcoding parameters associated with that inheritance region.

It should be noted, however, that more than one inheritance region maybe defined within one sample array or treeblock 150, respectively.Imagine, for example, the bottom left subblock 152 c was alsopartitioned into smaller blocks. In this case, subblock 152 c could alsoform an inheritance region.

In step 552, the inheritance information is checked as to whetherinheritance is to be used or not. If yes, the process of FIG. 13proceeds with step 554 where an inheritance subset including at leastone syntax element of a predetermined syntax element type is extractedfrom the data stream per inter-inheritance region. In the following step556, this inheritance subset is then copied into, or used as aprediction for, a corresponding inheritance subset of syntax elementswithin the set of syntax elements representing the coding parametersassociated with the set of leaf regions which the respective at leastone inheritance region is composed of. In other words, for eachinheritance region indicated within the inheritance information, thedata stream comprises an inheritance subset of syntax elements. In evenother words, the inheritance pertains to at least one certain syntaxelement type or syntax element category which is available forinheritance. For example, the prediction mode or inter-prediction modeor intra-prediction mode syntax element may be subject to inheritance.For example, the inheritance subset contained within the data stream forthe inheritance region may comprise an inter-prediction mode syntaxelement. The inheritance subset may also comprise further syntaxelements the syntax element types of which depend on the value of theafore-mentioned fixed syntax element type associated with theinheritance scheme. For example, in case of the inter-prediction modebeing a fixed component of the inheritance subset, the syntax elementsdefining the motion compensation, such as the motion-vector components,may or may not be included in the inheritance subset by syntax. Imagine,for example, the top right quarter of treeblock 150, namely subblock 152b, was the inheritance region, then either the inter-prediction modealone could be indicated for this inheritance region or theinter-prediction mode along with motion vectors and motion vectorindices.

All the syntax elements contained in the inheritance subset is copiedinto or used as a prediction for the corresponding coding parameters ofthe leaf blocks within that inheritance region, i.e. leaf blocks 154a,b,d and 156 a to 156 d. In case of prediction being used, residualsare transmitted for the individual leaf blocks.

One possibility of transmitting the inheritance information for thetreeblock 150 is the afore-mentioned transmission of a sharing flag f.The extraction of the inheritance information in step 550 could, in thiscase, comprise the following. In particular, the decoder could beconfigured to extract and check, for non-leaf regions corresponding toany of an inheritance set of at least one hierarchy level of themulti-tree subdivision, using an hierarchy level order from lowerhierarchy level to higher hierarchy level, the sharing flag f from thedata stream, as to whether the respective inheritance flag or share flagprescribes inheritance or not. For example, the inheritance set ofhierarchy levels could be formed by hierarchy layers 1 to 3 in FIG. 12a. Thus, for any of the nodes of the subtree structure not being a leafnode and lying within any of layers 1 to 3 could have a sharing flagassociated therewith within the data stream. The decoder extracts thesesharing flags in the order from layer 1 to layer 3, such as in adepth-first or breadth first traversal order. As soon as one of thesharing flags equals 1, the decoder knows that the leaf blocks containedin a corresponding inheritance region share the inheritance subsetsubsequently extracted in step 554. For the child nodes of the currentnode, a checking of inheritance flags is no longer necessary. In otherwords, inheritance flags for these child nodes are not transmittedwithin the data stream, since it is clear that the area of these nodesalready belongs to the inheritance region within which the inheritancesubset of syntax elements is shared.

The sharing flags f could be interleaved with the afore-mentioned bitssignaling the quadtree sub-division. For example, an interleave bitsequence including both sub-division flags as well as sharing flagscould be:

10001101(0000)000,

which is the same sub-division information as illustrated in FIG. 6awith two interspersed sharing flags, which are highlighted byunderlining, in order to indicate that in FIG. 3c all the sub-blockswithin the bottom left hand quarter of tree block 150 share codingparameters.

Another way to define the inheritance information indicating theinheritance region would be the use of two sub-divisions defined in asubordinate manner to each other as explained above with respect to theprediction and residual sub-division, respectively. Generally speaking,the leaf blocks of the primary sub-division could form the inheritanceregion defining the regions within which inheritance subsets of syntaxelements are shared while the subordinate sub-division defines theblocks within these inheritance regions for which the inheritance subsetof syntax elements are copied or used as a prediction.

Consider, for example, the residual tree as an extension of theprediction tree. Further, consider the case where prediction blocks canbe further divided into smaller blocks for the purpose of residualcoding. For each prediction block that corresponds to a leaf node of theprediction-related quadtree, the corresponding subdivision for residualcoding is determined by one or more subordinate quadtree(s).

In this case, rather than using any prediction signalization at internalnodes, we consider the residual tree as being interpreted in such a waythat it also specifies a refinement of the prediction tree in the senseof using a constant prediction mode (signaled by the corresponding leafnode of the prediction-related tree) but with refined reference samples.The following example illustrates this case.

For example, FIGS. 14a and 14b show a quadtree partitioning for intraprediction with neighboring reference samples being highlighted for onespecific leaf node of the primary sub-division, while FIG. 14b shows theresidual quadtree sub-division for the same prediction leaf node withrefined reference samples. All the subblocks shown in FIG. 14b share thesame inter-prediction parameters contained within the data stream forthe respective leaf block highlighted in FIG. 14a . Thus, FIG. 14a showsan example for the conventional quadtree partitioning for intraprediction, where the reference samples for one specific leaf node aredepicted. In an embodiment, however, a separate intra prediction signalis calculated for each leaf node in the residual tree by usingneighboring samples of already reconstructed leaf nodes in the residualtree, e.g., as indicated by the grey shaded stripes in FIG. 4(b). Then,the reconstructed signal of a given residual leaf node is obtained inthe ordinary way by adding the quantized residual signal to thisprediction signal. This reconstructed signal is then used as a referencesignal for the following prediction process. Note that the decodingorder for prediction is the same as the residual decoding order.

In the decoding process, as shown in FIG. 15, for each residual leafnode, the prediction signal p is calculated according to the actualintra-prediction mode (as indicated by the prediction-related quadtreeleaf node) by using the reference samples r′.

After the SIT process,

Re c Re s=SIT(Re s)

the reconstructed signal r is calculated and stored for the nextprediction calculation process:

r=Re c Re s+p

The decoding order for prediction is the same as the residual decodingorder, which is illustrated in FIG. 16.

Each residual leaf node is decoded as described in the previousparagraph. The reconstructed signal r is stored in a buffer as shown inFIG. 16. Out of this buffer, the reference samples r′ will be taken forthe next prediction and decoding process.

After having described specific embodiments with respect to FIGS. 1 to16 with combined distinct subsets of the above-outlined aspects, furtherembodiments of the present application are described which focus oncertain aspects already described above, but which embodiments representgeneralizations of some of the embodiments described above.

FIG. 17 shows decoder according to such a further embodiment. Thedecoder comprises an extractor 600, a subdivider 602 and a reconstructor604. These blocks are connected in series in the order mentioned betweenan input 606 and an output 608 of the decoder of FIG. 17. The extractor600 is configured to extract a maximum region size and amultitree-subdivision information from a data stream received by thedecoder at the input 606. The maximum region size may correspond, forexample, to the above-mentioned maximum block size which indicated thesize of the simply connected regions, now briefly called “blocks”, ofthe prediction subdivision, or to the maximum block size defining thesize of the treeblocks of the residual subdivision. Themultitree-subdivision information, in turn, may correspond to thequadtree subdivision information and may be coded into the bitstream ina way similar to FIGS. 6a and 6b . However, the quadtree subdivisiondescribed above with respect to the foregoing figures was merely oneexample out of a high number of possible examples. For example, thenumber of child nodes to a parent node may be any number greater thanone, and the number may vary in accordance with the hierarchy level.Moreover, the partitioning of a subdivision node may not be formed suchthat the area of the subblocks corresponding to the child nodes of acertain node are equal to each other. Rather, other partitioning rulesmay apply and may vary from hierarchy level to hierarchy level. Further,an information on the maximum hierarchy level of the multitreesubdivision or, corresponding thereto, the minimum size of thesub-region resulting from the multitree subdivision needs not to betransmitted within the data stream and the extractor may thus notextract such information from the data stream.

The subdivider 602 is configured to spatially divide an array ofinformation samples such as array 24, into tree root regions 150 of themaximum region size. The array of information samples may, as describedabove, represent a temporarily varying information signal, such as avideo or a 3-D video or the likes. Alternatively, the array ofinformation samples may represent a still picture. The subdivider 602 isfurther configured to subdivide, in accordance with themultitree-subdivision information extracted by extractor 600, at least asubset of the tree root regions into smaller simply connected regions ofdifferent sizes by recursively multi-partitioning the subset of the treeroot regions. As just-described with respect to extractor 600, thepartitioning is not restricted to quad-partitioning.

The reconstructor 604, in turn, is configured to reconstruct the arrayof information samples from the data stream 606, using the subdivisioninto the smaller simply connected regions. The smaller simply connectedregions correspond to the blocks shown in FIG. 3c , for example, or tothe blocks shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b . The processing order is notrestricted to the depth-first traversal order.

When mapping the elements shown in FIG. 2 onto the elements shown inFIG. 17, then element 102 of FIG. 2 corresponds to element 600 of FIG.17, element 104 a of FIG. 2 corresponds to subdivider 602 of FIG. 17,and the elements 104 b, 106, 108, 110, 112 and 114 form thereconstructor 604.

The advantage of transmitting the maximum region size within the datastream is that the encoder is enabled to adapt the subdivision to atypical picture content by use of less side information since theencoder is given the opportunity to decide on the maximum region size ona picture by picture basis. In an embodiment, the maximum region size istransferred within the bitstream for each picture. Alternatively, themaximum region size is transmitted within the bitstream in a coarsergranularity such as in units of groups of pictures.

FIG. 18 schematically shows the content of a data stream which thedecoder of FIG. 17 is able to decode. The data stream comprises data 610such as coding parameters and residual information on the basis ofwhich, in combination with the multitree-subdivision information, thereconstructor is able to reconstruct the array of information samples.Besides this, of course, the data stream comprises themultitree-subdivision information 612 and the maximum region size 614.In decoding order, the maximum region size may precede themultitree-subdivision information 612 and the remaining data 610 incoding/decoding order. The multitree subdivision information 612 and theremaining data 610 may be coded such into the data stream that themultitree subdivision information 612 precedes the remaining data 610,but as also described above, the multitree-subdivision information 612may be interleaved with the remaining data 610 in units of thesubregions into which the array of information samples is splitaccording to the multitree subdivision information. Also, thesubdivision information may change over time such as for each picture.The coding may be performed using time-wise prediction. That is, merelythe differences to the preceding subdivision information may be coded.The just-said does also apply for the maximum region size. However, thelatter may also change at a coarser time resolution.

As indicated by the dotted lines, the data stream may further comprisean information on the maximum hierarchy level, namely information 616.The three empty boxes shown in dotted lines at 618 shall indicate thatthe data stream may also comprise the data elements 612-616 another timefor a further multitree-subdivision, which may be a subordinatesubdivision relative to the multitree-subdivision defined by elements612-616, or may be a subdivision of the array of information samplesindependently defined.

FIG. 19 shows, in a very abstract way, an encoder for generating thedata stream of FIG. 18 decodable by the decoder of FIG. 17. The encodercomprises a subdivider 650 and a final coder 652. The subdivider isconfigured to determine a maximum region size and multitree-subdivisioninformation and to spatially divide and subdivide the array ofinformation samples accordingly just as the subdivider 602, thuscontrolled by the information 612 and 614 transmitted within the datastream. The final decoder 652 is configured to encode the array ofinformation samples into the data stream using the subdivision into thesmaller simply connected regions defined by subdivider 650 along withthe maximum region size and the multitree-subdivision information.

As mentioned before, the block diagram of FIG. 19 showing the encoder ofFIG. 19 as structured into a subdivider 650 and a final coder 652 is tobe understood in a rather abstract sense. To be more precise, bothsubdivider 650 and final coder 652 have to determine an optimal set ofsyntax elements comprising both, the indications relating to thesubdivision, namely maximum region size 614 and multitree subdivisioninformation 612, and the remaining data 610 and in order to determinethis optimized set of syntax elements an iterative algorithm may be usedaccording to which preliminary sets of syntax elements are tried bysubdivider 602 and reconstructor 604, respectively. This is illustratedin FIG. 19 by the existence of a trial coder 654, which is shown inorder to illustrate that some sets of syntax elements describingelements 610-614 may have been preliminarily used for encoding withintrial coder 654 before the actual data stream insertion and code streamgeneration by subdivider 650 and final coder 652 takes place. Althoughshown as separate entities, trial coder 654 and final coder 652 may, toa great extent, coincide in terms of subroutines, circuit parts orfirmware logic, respectively.

In accordance with another embodiment, a decoder may be structured asshown in FIG. 20. The decoder of FIG. 20 comprises a sub-divider 700 anda reconstructor 702. The subdivider is configured to spatiallysubdivide, using a quadtree subdivision, an array of information samplesrepresenting a spatially sampled information signal, such as the arrayof information samples 24, into blocks of different sizes by recursivelyquadtree partitioning as described, for example, with respect to FIG. 3cand FIGS. 9a and 9b , respectively. The reconstructor 702 is configuredto reconstruct the array of information samples from a data stream usingthe subdivision into the blocks or simply connected regions withtreating the blocks in a depth-first traversal order, such as thedepth-first traversal order having been described above and shown at 350in FIG. 3c , for example.

As described above, using the depth-first traversal order inreconstructing the array of image samples in connection with thequadtree-subdivision helps to exploit already decoded syntax elementswithin the data stream of neighboring blocks in order to increase thecoding efficiency of the current block.

It should be noted that subdivider 700 of FIG. 20 may not expect thedata stream to comprise an information on a maximum region size 514 ofthe quadtree subdivision. Further, a maximum hierarchy level 616 may notbe indicated in the data stream in accordance with the embodiment ofFIG. 20. In accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 20, even the quadtreesubdivision information needs not to be explicitly signaled within thedata stream in the sense of especially dedicated syntax elements.Rather, subdivider 700 could predict the quadtree-subdivision from ananalysis of the remaining data of the data stream such as an analysis ofa thumbnail picture potentially contained within the data stream.Alternatively, the subdivider 700 is configured to, in extracting thequadtree subdivision information from the data stream, predict thesubdivision information for the current array of information samplesfrom a previously reconstructed/decoded quadtree-subdivision of apreviously decoded array of information samples in case the array ofinformation samples belongs to a picture of a video or some othertemporally varying information signal. Further, the predivision of thesample array into treeblocks, as it was the case with the abovedescribed embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 16, needs not to be performed.Rather, the quadtree subdivision may directly performed on the samplearray as it is.

As to the concordance of the elements shown in FIG. 20 and the elementsshown in FIG. 2, subdivider 700 corresponds to the subdivider 104 a ofFIG. 2, while the reconstructor 702 corresponds to elements 104 b, 106,108, 110, 112 and 114. Similar to the description of FIG. 17, merger 104b may be left off. Further, the reconstructor 702 is not restricted tohybrid coding. The same applies to the reconstructor 604 of FIG. 12. Asshown by the dotted lines, the decoder FIG. 15 may comprise an extractorextracting, for example, quadtree subdivision information based on whichthe sub-divider spatially subdivides the array of information samples,with this extractor corresponding to the extractor 102 of FIG. 2. Asshown with a dotted arrow, subdivider 700 may even predict a subdivisionof the current array of information samples from a reconstructed arrayof information samples output by reconstructor 702.

An encoder able to provide a data stream which is decodable by a decoderof FIG. 25 is structured as shown in FIG. 19, namely into a subdividerand a final coder with the subdivider being configured to determine thequadtree subdivision and spatially subdivided array of informationsamples accordingly and the final coder being configured to code thearray of information samples into the data stream using the subdivisionby treating the block in the depth-first traversal order.

FIG. 21 shows a decoder for decoding a coded signaling of a multitreestructure prescribing a spatial multitree-subdivision of a treeblocksuch as the signaling shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b with respect to aquadtree subdivision. As noted above, the multitree-subdivision is notrestricted to a quadtree-subdivision. Further, the number of child nodesper parent node may differ depending on the hierarchy level of theparent node, in a way known to both encoding and decoding side, or in away indicated to the decoder as side information. The coded signalingcomprises a sequence of flags associated with nodes of the multitreestructure in a depth-first traversal order such as the order 350 in FIG.3c . Each flag specifies whether an area of the treeblock correspondingto the node with which the respective flag is associated ismulti-partitioned, such as the flags of the flag sequences in FIGS. 6aand 6b . The decoder in FIG. 21 is then configured to sequentiallyentropy-decode the flags using probability estimation contexts which arethe same for flags associated with nodes of the multitree structurelying within the same hierarchy level of the multitree structure, butdifferent for nodes of the multitree structure lying within differenthierarchy levels of the multitree structure. The depth-first traversalorder helps in exploiting the statistics of neighboring samples ofneighboring subblocks of the multitree structure, while the use ofdifferent probability estimation context for flags associated withdifferent hierarchy level nodes enables a compromise between contextmanaging overhead on the one hand and coding efficiency on the otherhand.

Alternatively, FIG. 21 may generalize the aforementioned descriptionwith respect to FIGS. 1-16 in another way. The decoder of FIG. 16 couldbe configured to decode a coded signal of a multitree structure, whichis not necessarily prescribing a spatial multitree-subdivision of atreeblock, but which comprises a sequence of flags associated with nodesof the multitree structure in a depth-first traversal order as it wasdescribed above. For example, the multitree structure could be used atthe decoding side for other purposes such as in other codingapplications, such as audio coding or other applications. Further,according to this alternative for FIG. 21, the coded signaling alsocomprises an information on the maximum hierarchy level of the multitreestructure and the sequence of flags is associated merely with nodes ofthe multitree structure in a depth-first order not being associated withnodes lying within this maximum hierarchy level. By this measure, thenumber of flags is reduced significantly.

With respect to the alternatives described above with respect to FIG.21, it is noted that a respective encoder for providing the codedsignaling of a multitree structure decoded by a decoder of FIG. 21 mayalso be used independent from the application scenery described above.

Although some aspects have been described in the context of anapparatus, it is clear that these aspects also represent a descriptionof the corresponding method, where a block or device corresponds to amethod step or a feature of a method step. Analogously, aspectsdescribed in the context of a method step also represent a descriptionof a corresponding block or item or feature of a correspondingapparatus. Some or all of the method steps may be executed by (or using)a hardware apparatus, like for example, a microprocessor, a programmablecomputer or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, some one or moreof the most important method steps may be executed by such an apparatus.

The inventive encoded/compressed signals can be stored on a digitalstorage medium or can be transmitted on a transmission medium such as awireless transmission medium or a wired transmission medium such as theInternet.

Depending on certain implementation requirements, embodiments of theinvention can be implemented in hardware or in software. Theimplementation can be performed using a digital storage medium, forexample a floppy disk, a DVD, a Blu-Ray, a CD, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM,an EEPROM or a FLASH memory, having electronically readable controlsignals stored thereon, which cooperate (or are capable of cooperating)with a programmable computer system such that the respective method isperformed. Therefore, the digital storage medium may be computerreadable.

Some embodiments according to the invention comprise a data carrierhaving electronically readable control signals, which are capable ofcooperating with a programmable computer system, such that one of themethods described herein is performed.

Generally, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented as acomputer program product with a program code, the program code beingoperative for performing one of the methods when the computer programproduct runs on a computer. The program code may for example be storedon a machine readable carrier.

Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one ofthe methods described herein, stored on a machine readable carrier.

In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, acomputer program having a program code for performing one of the methodsdescribed herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.

A further embodiment of the inventive methods is, therefore, a datacarrier (or a digital storage medium, or a computer-readable medium)comprising, recorded thereon, the computer program for performing one ofthe methods described herein.

A further embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a datastream or a sequence of signals representing the computer program forperforming one of the methods described herein. The data stream or thesequence of signals may for example be configured to be transferred viaa data communication connection, for example via the Internet.

A further embodiment comprises a processing means, for example acomputer, or a programmable logic device, configured to or adapted toperform one of the methods described herein.

A further embodiment comprises a computer having installed thereon thecomputer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (for example a fieldprogrammable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of thefunctionalities of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, afield programmable gate array may cooperate with a microprocessor inorder to perform one of the methods described herein. Generally, themethods may be performed by any hardware apparatus.

The above described embodiments are merely illustrative for theprinciples of the present invention. It is understood that modificationsand variations of the arrangements and the details described herein willbe apparent to others skilled in the art. It is the intent, therefore,to be limited only by the scope of the impending patent claims and notby the specific details presented by way of description and explanationof the embodiments herein.

While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments,there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which fall withinthe scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are manyalternative ways of implementing the methods and compositions of thepresent invention. It is therefore intended that the following appendedclaims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations,and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed:
 1. A decoder comprising: an extractor configured toextract, from a data stream representing encoded video information,information related to first and second maximum region sizes, first andsecond subdivision information, and a maximum hierarchy level, whereinthe first maximum region size and the first subdivision information areassociated with prediction coding, and the second maximum region sizeand the second subdivision information are associated with transformcoding; a divider configured to: divide an array of information samplesrepresenting a spatially sampled portion of the video information into afirst set of root regions based on the first maximum region size,sub-divide at least some of the first set of root regions into a firstset of sub-regions using recursive multi-tree partitioning based on thefirst subdivision information, based on the size of at least one of thefirst set of sub-regions and the second maximum region size, divide atleast one of the first set of sub-regions into a second set of rootregions of the second maximum region size, determine, for each of thesecond set of root regions of the second maximum region size, whetherthe respective root region of the second set of root regions is to besub-divided, and responsive to a determination that the respective rootregion of the second set of root regions is to be sub-divided,sub-divide the respective root region of the second set of root regionsinto a second set of sub-regions using recursive multi-tree partitioningbased on the second subdivision information and the maximum hierarchylevel; and a reconstructor configured to reconstruct the array ofinformation samples using prediction coding in accordance with the firstset of sub-regions and transform coding in accordance with the secondset of sub-regions.
 2. The decoder according to claim 1, wherein thereconstructor is configured to, for a sub-region of the first set ofsub-regions: compute a prediction signal based on an intra-predictionmode associated with the sub-region and reconstructed samples of aneighboring subset of the second set of sub-regions, compute areconstructed signal by adding the prediction signal to a reconstructedresidual of a subset of the second set of sub-regions associated withthe sub-region, and store the reconstructed signal in a buffer for anext intra-prediction cycle.
 3. The decoder according to claim 1,wherein the divider is configured to perform the division of the arrayof information samples into the first set of root regions such that thefirst set of root regions are rectangular blocks of a size determined bythe first maximum region size, the rectangular blocks are arranged in anorder to gaplessly cover the array of information samples.
 4. Thedecoder according to claim 1, wherein the divider is configured to, insub-dividing at least some of the first set of root regions, determinewhether the first subdivision information indicates that each of the atleast some of the first set of root regions is to be sub-divided, basedon a determination that each of the at least some of the first set ofroot regions is to be sub-divided, sub-divide that root region intosub-regions of a first hierarchy level according to a partition ruleassociated with the first hierarchy level, and recursively repeat thedetermination and sub-division for the sub-regions of the firsthierarchy level in order to obtain regions of higher-order hierarchylevels using respective partition rules associated therewith, whereinthe determination and sub-division is performed until no furtherdivision is to be performed according to the first subdivision.
 5. Thedecoder according to claim 4, wherein the divider is configured to, inaccordance with the partition rules associated with the first andhigher-order hierarchy levels, sub-divide into sub-regions of equalsize, such that there are an equal number of sub-regions at eachhierarchy level.
 6. The decoder according to claim 4, wherein the firstsubdivision information includes a partition indication flag indicatingwhether any of the first set of root regions or the sub-regions at thefirst or higher-order hierarchy level is sub-divided.
 7. The decoderaccording to claim 1, wherein the extractor is configured to extractsyntax elements associated with the first or second set of sub-regionsfrom the data stream in a depth-first traversal order.
 8. The decoderaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a merger configured tocombine, based on a first subset of syntax elements of the data stream,disjoint from a second subset of syntax elements of the data streamincluding the first subdivision information, spatially neighboring onesof the first set of sub-regions to obtain an intermediate subdivision ofthe array of information samples, wherein the reconstructor isconfigured to reconstruct the array of information samples using theintermediate subdivision.
 9. The decoder according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a predictor configured to predict the array of informationsamples from the data stream, wherein the reconstructor is configured toperform a spectral-to-spatial domain transform coding to obtain aresidual for the array of information samples, and combine the residualand the prediction of the array of information samples to reconstructthe array of information samples.
 10. The decoder according to claim 1,wherein the recursive multi-tree partitioning includes a quadtreepartitioning technique.
 11. A method for decoding comprising:extracting, from a data stream representing encoded video information,information related to first and second maximum region sizes, first andsecond subdivision information, and a maximum hierarchy level, whereinthe first maximum region size and the first subdivision information areassociated with prediction coding, and the second maximum region sizeand the second subdivision information are associated with transformcoding; dividing an array of information samples representing aspatially sampled portion of the video information into a first set ofroot regions based on the first maximum region size; sub-dividing atleast some of the first set of root regions into a first set ofsub-regions using recursive multi-tree partitioning based on the firstsubdivision information; based on the size of at least one of the firstset of sub-regions and the second maximum region size, dividing at leastone of the first set of sub-regions into a second set of root regions ofthe second maximum region size; determining, for each of the second setof root regions of the second maximum region size, whether therespective root region of the second set of root regions is to besub-divided; responsive to a determination that the respective rootregion of the second set of root regions is to be sub-divided,sub-dividing the respective root region of the second set of rootregions into a second set of sub-regions using recursive multi-treepartitioning based on the second subdivision information and the maximumhierarchy level; and reconstructing the array of information samplesusing prediction coding in accordance with the first set of sub-regionsand transform coding in accordance with the second set of sub-regions.12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, for a sub-region of thefirst set of sub-regions, the reconstructing includes: computing aprediction signal based on an intra-prediction mode associated with thesub-region and reconstructed samples of a neighboring subset of thesecond set of sub-regions, computing a reconstructed signal by addingthe prediction signal to a reconstructed residual of a subset of thesecond set of sub-regions associated with the sub-region, and storingthe reconstructed signal in a buffer for a next intra-prediction cycle.13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the dividing of the arrayof information samples into the first set of root regions is performedsuch that the first set of root regions are rectangular blocks of a sizedetermined by the first maximum region size, the rectangular blocks arearranged in an order to gaplessly cover the array of informationsamples.
 14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the sub-dividingat least some of the first set of root regions includes: determiningwhether the first subdivision information indicates that each of the atleast some of the first set of root regions is to be sub-divided, basedon a determination that each of the at least some of the first set ofroot regions is to be sub-divided, sub-dividing that root region intosub-regions of a first hierarchy level according to a partition ruleassociated with the first hierarchy level, and recursively repeating thedetermination and sub-division for the sub-regions of the firsthierarchy level in order to obtain regions of higher-order hierarchylevels using respective partition rules associated therewith, whereinthe determination and sub-division is performed until no furtherdivision is to be performed according to the first subdivision.
 15. Themethod according to claim 14, wherein, in accordance with the partitionrules associated with the first and higher-order hierarchy levels, thesub-dividing includes sub-dividing into sub-regions of equal size suchthat there are an equal number of sub-regions at each hierarchy level.16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the first subdivisioninformation includes a partition indication flag indicating whether anyof the first set of root regions or the sub-regions at the first orhigher-order hierarchy level is sub-divided.
 17. The method according toclaim 11, further comprising extracting syntax elements associated withthe first or second set of sub-regions from the data stream in adepth-first traversal order.
 18. The method according to claim 11,further comprising: combining, based on a first subset of syntaxelements of the data stream, disjoint from a second subset of syntaxelements of the data stream including the first subdivision information,spatially neighboring ones of the first set of sub-regions to obtain anintermediate subdivision of the array of information samples, whereinthe reconstructor is configured to reconstruct the array of informationsamples using the intermediate subdivision.
 19. The method according toclaim 11, further comprising: predicting the array of informationsamples from the data stream, wherein the reconstructing includesperforming a spectral-to-spatial domain transform coding to obtain aresidual for the array of information samples, and combining theresidual and the prediction of the array of information samples toreconstruct the array of information samples.
 20. The method accordingto claim 11, wherein the recursive multi-tree partitioning includes aquadtree partitioning technique.
 21. An encoder comprising: a dividerconfigured to: divide an array of information samples representing aspatially sampled portion of video information into a first set of rootregions based on a first maximum region size, sub-divide at least someof the first set of root regions into a first set of sub-regions usingrecursive multi-tree partitioning based on first subdivisioninformation, based on a size of at least one of the first set ofsub-regions and a second maximum region size, divide at least one of thefirst set of sub-regions into a second set of root regions of the secondmaximum region size, determine, for each of the second set of rootregions of the second maximum region size, whether the respective rootregion of the second set of root regions is to be sub-divided, andresponsive to a determination that the respective root region of thesecond set of root regions is to be sub-divided, sub-divide therespective root region of the second set of root regions into a secondset of sub-regions using recursive multi-tree partitioning based onsecond subdivision information and a maximum hierarchy level; and a datastream generator configured to: encode the array of information samplesusing prediction coding in accordance with the first set of sub-regionsand transform coding in accordance with the second set of sub-regions,and insert into a data stream the encoded array of information samples,information related to the first and second maximum region sizes and themaximum hierarchy level, and the first and second subdivisioninformation, wherein the first maximum region size and the firstsubdivision information are associated with prediction coding, and thesecond maximum region size and the second subdivision information areassociated with transform coding.
 22. The encoder according to claim 21,wherein the data stream generator is configured to, for a sub-region ofthe first set of sub-regions: compute a prediction signal based on anintra-prediction mode associated with the sub-region and reconstructedsamples of a neighboring subset of the second set of sub-regions,compute a reconstructed signal by adding the prediction signal to areconstructed residual of a subset of the second set of sub-regionsassociated with the sub-region, and store the reconstructed signal in abuffer for a next intra-prediction cycle.
 23. The encoder according toclaim 21, wherein the divider is configured to perform the division ofthe array of information samples into the first set of root regions suchthat the first set of root regions are rectangular blocks of a sizedetermined by the first maximum region size, the rectangular blocks arearranged in an order to gaplessly cover the array of informationsamples.
 24. The encoder according to claim 21, wherein the divider isconfigured to, in sub-dividing at least some of the first set of rootregions, determine whether the first subdivision information indicatesthat each of the at least some of the first set of root regions is to besub-divided, based on a determination that each of the at least some ofthe first set of root regions is to be sub-divided, sub-divide that rootregion into sub-regions of a first hierarchy level according to apartition rule associated with the first hierarchy level, andrecursively repeat the determination and sub-division for thesub-regions of the first hierarchy level in order to obtain regions ofhigher-order hierarchy levels using respective partition rulesassociated therewith, wherein the determination and sub-division isperformed until no further division is to be performed according to thefirst subdivision.
 25. The encoder according to claim 24, wherein thedivider is configured to, in accordance with the partition rulesassociated with the first and higher-order hierarchy levels, sub-divideinto sub-regions of equal size, such that there are an equal number ofsub-regions at each hierarchy level.
 26. The encoder according to claim24, wherein the first subdivision information includes a partitionindication flag indicating whether any of the first set of root regionsor the sub-regions at the first or higher-order hierarchy level issub-divided.
 27. The encoder according to claim 21, wherein the datastream generator is configured to insert syntax elements associated withthe first or second set of sub-regions from the data stream in adepth-first traversal order.
 28. The encoder according to claim 21,further comprising: a merger configured to combine, based on a firstsubset of syntax elements of the data stream, disjoint from a secondsubset of syntax elements of the data stream including the firstsubdivision information, spatially neighboring ones of the first set ofsub-regions to obtain an intermediate subdivision of the array ofinformation samples, wherein the data stream generator is configured toencode the array of information samples using the intermediatesubdivision.
 29. The encoder according to claim 21, wherein therecursive multi-tree partitioning includes a quadtree partitioningtechnique.
 30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for storingdata associated with a video, comprising: a data stream stored in thenon-transitory computer-readable medium, the data stream comprising anencoded array of information samples, information related to first andsecond maximum region sizes and a maximum hierarchy level, and first andsecond subdivision information, wherein the first maximum region sizeand the first subdivision information are associated with predictioncoding, and the second maximum region size and the second subdivisioninformation are associated with transform coding, wherein the array ofinformation samples is encoded into the data stream based on operationsincluding: dividing an array of information samples representing aspatially sampled portion of video information into a first set of rootregions based on a first maximum region size, sub-dividing at least someof the first set of root regions into a first set of sub-regions usingrecursive multi-tree partitioning based on first subdivisioninformation, based on a size of at least one of the first set ofsub-regions and a second maximum region size, dividing at least one ofthe first set of sub-regions into a second set of root regions of thesecond maximum region size, determining, for each of the second set ofroot regions of the second maximum region size, whether the respectiveroot region of the second set of root regions is to be sub-divided,responsive to a determination that the respective root region of thesecond set of root regions is to be sub-divided, sub-dividing therespective root region of the second set of root regions into a secondset of sub-regions using recursive multi-tree partitioning based onsecond subdivision information and a maximum hierarchy level, encodingthe array of information samples using prediction coding in accordancewith the first set of sub-regions and transform coding in accordancewith the second set of sub-regions, and inserting into the data streamthe encoded array of information samples, the information related to thefirst and second maximum region sizes and the maximum hierarchy level,and the first and second subdivision information.